


Of Healing & Hearts

by Illusionna, Lydjachan



Series: Nurturing Flame [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Doctor/Patient, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-08-23 10:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8324725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illusionna/pseuds/Illusionna, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lydjachan/pseuds/Lydjachan
Summary: Two woman, both with their lives changed forever by the kraang, find each other in the shadowy world of mutants. A roleplay adaptation.





	1. Chapter 1

Eliza wandered the sewers by herself, something that until now she had avoided. But she just couldn't stand to be alone in the lair with him one second longer. The further she got away his scent the clearer her head became. But no matter how far she traveled the burning and itching, the not-so-phantom sensation of her repressed animal nature trying to escape her self control, was becoming more and more persistent just underneath her skin. Her meticulously filled claws twitched open and closed with the effort not to tear away at her own skin.

She knew something was wrong. She had her theories but they seemed so far-fetched that she was not yet desperate enough to believe they could be true. In some ways she felt better than she ever had. Younger, stronger and she could swear that she had even dropped weight despite her increased height and strange new musculature. On the other hand, these instincts, just a few months old, were driving her appetites in disturbing directions. Every time she ignored the growing impulses, her body seemed to punish her with some new symptom. This morning her brush was full of clumps of fur and her pelt was noticeably thinner.

A warm breeze, somehow untainted by the stench of the sewers, ghosted past her only to swirl a small collection of trash at the base of a ladder. Letting her eyes travel upward she contemplated the manhole cover. Portal to freedom, so close, but ultimately unattainable. Her mutated form was a more effective cell than any structure made of concrete and steel. Still, what could it hurt?

He would not approve. She didn't care. She needed to taste some sort of freedom and escape. Maybe a trip above would cool the burning in her blood. Nothing and no one down here was helping. Perhaps something or someone up there could. Immediately she felt the comforting confirmation swell within her chest and the decision was made. With a hope brighter than she had felt in weeks the ferret-woman climbed the ladder to the surface.

* * *

 

With the growing heat during the day of the early summer, the temperature cooled slowly in the evenings, so that even in the pre-dawn, one only occasionally needed a jacket.  It was a relief to not to have to carry hers around her waist until the late night when the breezes coming from the sea turned the air cooler than her bare arms found comfortable.  But with both of her messenger bags laden with lotions, potions, and salves, The Phoenix doubted she would find the early morning cold a problem, if this happened to be a cold one.

Being alone on the streets of NYC was never a safe endeavor, no matter where one was endeavoring.  Armed with her slingshot and bag of crimped bullet shells, and the beautifully carved knife on her belt, and no longer feeling like she'd been hit by a bus fighting ninja turtles, or feeling guilty for being so out of practice that she and her children were able to be hit by buses made up for four boys with shells, she was fully confident that in walking the streets of NYC on her own, she could take care of herself.

She turned the corner, and as she did, heard the sliding of a manhole cover.  Oh, not the sewer!  She had told herself she was over her encounter with the sea of rats that ran through the city only months before, with the strange man with the large, black sunhat she'd tried to help in the sewer, but the vision of the blackness weaving in and out of his head still left a taste of fear in her mouth when she thought about it too much.

The cover seemed to open terribly slowly, whether it actually did or not, she wasn't sure.  She ducked back behind the corner, pressing herself against a building, and poking her head around to see what would emerge.  If it was a rat, or a black sun hat, she was out of there!  

* * *

 

_'Why are these things so darn heavy!'_ Eliza contemplated as the steel cover side open only inches at a time. The tunnel was wide enough to allow her to ascend to the surface but narrowed significantly at the actual manhole, seemingly much smaller than she remembered from previous outings, giving her little room to maneuver. When she eventually had the lid at the halfway point she thrust herself out of the hole and put her weight into a shoulder thrust to finish the job. Winded she hungrily sucked in the fresh air. Allowing her gray muzzle to drop open in a slight pant. It was glorious! Once she was recovered she tilted her pink nose to the sky, drawing in a slow seeking breath. It was still the scent of the city. Gasoline exhaust, cigarette butts and even above ground the taint of urine.

But there were more lovely things also, salt and the nostalgic odor of exposed mud from a lowering tide. It reminded her of times spent fishing as girl with her father. There was the crisp chemical tang of warm linen, wafting in cycling puffs. There must be a dryer going somewhere nearby. Even closer was something she didn't expect.

Honey, olive oil and a plethora of other things all layered on top of each other that she couldn't identify but came across as all together herby. Looking around, which she really should have done earlier, she couldn't see anything but a normal alley way.

Shrugging away the unusual she was determined to not back away from her moment of stolen freedom. She made her way out of the hole, wiggling her hips as bit when their girth proved to exceed the provided exit circumference. Huffing at the indignity she exerted a bit too much force, not expecting her mutated anatomy to shift so easily to allow her to get through the small space, she tumbled head over heels out onto the pavement.

The back of her head hit the side of a large dumpster, effectively stopping her rolling progress, and she saw flashes of red and yellow behind her closed eyes. Groaning and rubbing her aching skull she was just glad no one saw that display of gracefulness. Then the sound of clothe and footsteps made her eyes snap open.

"Oh, this is just perfect." She quipped with agitation and more that a little fear.

* * *

 

It wasn't a sheet of rats, or a man with a black sun hat that emerged from the manhole cover--it was a ferret.  Phoenix gave a start as a sable covered head emerged quickly for the hole, like a whack-a-mole game at the carnival and the manhole cover clattered behind the ferret's body.   It was a mutant, she noted, a female one by the look of her rather unmistakable top half.   She panted open-mouthed, as if she'd been underwater, trying to escape from something that would not give her air.   Once she'd gotten her breath back, she saw the ferret woman reach her head up, her neck stretching as if to get her as far from the manhole as she could, and inhaled.  Phoenix saw her close her eyes, like that one breath was something desperately needed, a drug needing to be taken.  

She then opened her eyes, and took a quick look around.  Phoenix could tell that it was not a practiced looking about, looking for danger signs.

The ferret woman put her arms on the road and tried to hoist herself out of the hole, only to be stopped by her lower half not cooperating.  She wriggled in a typical mustelid fashion, and Phoenix smiled at the motion.  The smile vanished the ferret popped out of the hole and went rolling across the street, hitting her head against a dumpster.

The healer dashed out from the corner, toward the mutant, who snapped apprehensively, "Oh, this is just perfect."

Phoenix heard the familiar fear in the woman's voice, the fear of humans, the fear of the world that would scream and run when a mutant tried to enter it.  She had encountered it so many times, she couldn't count.  In all of those innumerable encounters, she had learned that fear with mutants was something that had to be handled delicately.  It could easily turn into to anger or aggression, which could easily land her in a fight that she'd rather not get into.  Afraid mutants were the most dangerous, they fought like the animals that become irreparably part of their person.  A human being held little chance against a mutant in such a frame of mind, even if the mutant may have once been a domestic pet.

Phoenix stopped her advance, and chuckled.  "It is?" she said, as reassuringly as she could.  "It looked more like an accident to me."

* * *

 

She felt the fear turn to adrenaline at the sight of the woman. She was in so much trouble. Trouble she didn't know she could she could get herself out of. Driven by a combination of instinct and self preservation, she started to assess the threat before her.

The woman was slight, looking almost like a caricature of a pack mule with her bulging bags. Eliza was easily larger and heavier than the woman. However there was a toneness to her exposed arms that hinted at conditioning and a confidence in her stance that spoke of experience. The obvious knife at her belt helped to complete the picture.

Then she laughed and joked at Eliza's tumbling exit and the fear and trepidation melted away. Maybe it was the lack of judgement in her voice or the calm that seemed to roll off of her. Or maybe Eliza had hit her head a little harder than she thought. Regardless she couldn't stop the snorted chortle that escaped her throat and bubbled through her snout.

"I did have to substitute a double for a triple, but I thought the overall routine had merit." Though she knew she was rambling on the ferret had struck her own funny bone and couldn't stop herself. "I'm sure the Russian judge will dock me points." She winced as her laughter caused her head to ache even more. "Oww, looks like I won't get a chance for redemption in the freestyle though."  

Despite the growing throb in her temple she was almost deliriously happy and pleased at her own joke. But then the world started to tip and twirl and she wasn't laughing anymore.

* * *

 

The ferret woman knew something about gymnastics!  Phoenix felt her heart sore, the terminology used in her youth making her heart swell in a way she didn't know would after all this time.  The mutant in front of her continued laughing, much like she and her own family did when finding something supremely funny.  Phoenix squatted down, one foot in front of the other, prepared to jump away should she have to, and said.  "Those Russian judges will dock more than points, believe me."

The laughing stopped suddenly, and the woman swayed in front of her.  Phoenix's warning bells went off, and her joking voice changed.  "We need to stay still," she said as kindly as she could with still being firm.  "We need to check your head.  I think you maybe have gotten more than just a bump."

She unhooked the two bags off of her neck, and began to rummage through one of them.  "Do you feel like you're going to throw up?"


	2. Chapter 2

Without consciously deciding on the motion Eliza started to curl in on herself. The throbbing was getting worse and her lip thinned into a grimace exposing her teeth slightly.

She took comfort in the voice next to her. Trying to obey the gentle command to stay still. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the question. She evaluated her stomach and was relieved that there was no telltale roll or discomfort.

"No. I don't think so. I feel dizzy and I could really use a couple tylenol."

In the back of her mind she knew what was happening was not normal. She'd been told that normal people would be afraid of her. Heck a few months ago she was sure she would have run away screaming at the sight of the huge animal/human hybrid she had become.

This woman wasn't running or screaming. She was helping. Eliza felt that was important. Eliza wasn't normal but she was being shown a type of kindness she had been starving for. That alone was worth the aching head.

She looked at the woman, sorting through her bags, and tried to find the words. All that broke through the haze was a staggered. "Hey... umm... thanks."

* * *

 

Phoenix smiled in a satisfied way, and quipped her usual, "Don't thank me until you're better."  The look on the ferret-woman's face pulled her heartstrings.  The almost grey muzzle pulled back in scowl of pain, "Try to stay still," she urged again.

She went through her head on the procedure for a concussion for a member of family Mustelidea.  She couldn't recall anything that would make the care of such an injury different from that of any other mammal, so she went about it as she normally would.

Getting out a bottle of water, a plastic peanut butter jar filled with kaolin clay, and a rag made from a cut up t-shirt, she said, "I think you might have a concussion.  We need to get the swelling down, and that will help with the dizziness."  She scooted closer, so her knees were almost touching the woman's body.  She could feel the heat from ferret woman's body thorough the material of her jeans, a hotter contrast from the warmth of the night. It was always best, she'd learned early on, to ask a new patient whether it as alright to do something to them, especially when she was alone without the protection of one her large and intimidating children. "May I put a compress on your head where you hit it?"

* * *

 

She looked at the woman with distracted curiosity as she pulled several items from her bags. When asked if it was ok to treat the injury Eliza barely stopped herself nodding her agreement. Remembering that she had been told to stay still.

"Please, do what you need to." Though she could sense this woman was trying to be gentle she couldn't help the hiss and flinch as the tender spot was attended to. She tried her best not to pull away and started a breathing hum to help her through the pain.

It was a technique she had first found when in labor. A deep breath in then using her exhale to hum or sing, the tune and focus required helped take her away from the pain. It got her some weird looks from the staff, but if they were gonna keep sticking the wrong size needle in her spine she figured it was her prerogative on how she dealt with it.

After several minutes involving snippets from the 1812 overture, Fiddler on the Roof and the chorus of "Do you really want to hurt me" she found that the throbbing was waning and when she opened her eyes the dizziness was much reduced.

"Hey doc, I think its working." She felt a smile replacing her tight grimace. "Guess I was lucky coming across you tonight. If was gonna bumble the landing I choose the right alley to do it in."

* * *

 

Phoenix dropped to both of her knees, in a proper kneeling position, when the ferret replied, "Please do what you need to."  The tone was not only accommodating, but the politeness was not affected, and it put Phoenix at ease, making it easier to decide on a position that gave her no easy way of escape if the ferret woman decided to suddenly unfurl herself.  

The Phoenix explained what she was doing, as she did to each patient she dealt with.   "This is a kaolin clay poultice," her voice quiet and soothing,  she hoped. "It will help take down any swelling." When she placed it on her temple,  the woman flinched, her mouth stretching and hissing in pain once again. The ferret began to hum, and Phoenix smiled at the familiar self-loathing reaction. She'd noticed it early on in her healing, that children and females tended to make a rhythmic noise to sooth a hurt.  She refrained from telling her patient that the vibration made from the hum might make her head worse. There precious few things to soothe one in this world, she would not take this away from her.

After a few minutes,  the humming stopped and the ferret opened her eyes. She gave a way smile and said,  "Hey doc, I think it is working. Guess I was lucky coming across you tonight. If was gonna bumble the landing I choose the right alley to do it in."

Still holding the compress to the ferret's head, she said with a slight laugh, "You don't look like you have mastered the art of exiting the sewers from manhole covers."  Phoenix wasn't sure how else one would exit the sewers, other than the storm grates and she wasn't sure if they would allow any more room to get by.  She took the clay filled rag away from her head, to wet it again, and a large swath of fur came off with it, covering the surface of the cloth.


	3. Chapter 3

"You don't look like you have mastered the art of exiting the sewers from manhole covers." The healer woman said with amusement. Eliza smiled at the tone of the comment but let her face go lax again at its' content. While contemplating how to respond, she felt the rag leave her head. She gave a cursory look and noticed the hair that had decided to abandon her. This day was just getting better.

"I haven't had much practice actually LEAVING the sewers. At least not on my own." She huffed and tried to ignore the lingering ache. "But after a few weeks I couldn't take the underground hospitality any longer." She didn't know why she had the urge to unburden herself to this stranger. It was so nice to talk to someone outside the situation. Someone she didn't have to lie to about being in a hospitable quarantine, who wasn't a child or the cause of her oddly growing distress.

She shifted her position to try and get a bit more comfortable. "I doubt after tonight I'll get the opportunity again anytime soon." She dropped her head lower. "I didn't even make it very far. I had hoped my walk would be more park and less pavement." She frowned lightly and closed her eyes. "I am so tired of my bad luck. In fact, I am just plain tired."

* * *

 

Phoenix listened to the ferret mutant prattle, pouring some water on the cloth and watching some of the fur be carried off with it.  The doctor part of her brain began to list off reasons why a chunk of hair would so easily come out due to a thump on the head.

The forefront of her brain, however, the part that was actually listening to what the woman was saying, was growing increasingly disquieted.

""I haven't had much practice actually LEAVING the sewers, at least not on my own," the mutant huffed.  "But after a few weeks I couldn't take the underground hospitality any longer."

The beautiful staccato that Phoenix listened to as a beautiful balm in her inner ear so often when alone with her thoughts chanted in her brain behind the hearing of the words 'underground hospitality'.  The woman in front of her was speaking with a subdued desperation, the same kind of desperation that Phoenix had detected with her first intake of breath once the manhole cover was no longer an issue to the ferret's escape.

The mutant moved, uncurling a little and raising her head.  She lowered it again, slightly and said in a heavy voice,  "I am so tired of my bad luck. In fact, I am just plain tired."

Phoenix wanted to take the woman's neck in her arms, she knew what that kind of tired was.  Not only had she experienced it herself, but it seemed to be an integral part of the process of dealing with a mutation.  It was a sure fire way that The Phoenix knew the mutant in front of her was a human in her previous life.

"You have to have a great deal of good luck to find me," the medicine woman said.  "And if this is your first time leaving the sewers," the words tasted disgusting as she said them, and she hoped they didn't sound the same way, "Then you have good luck indeed."

* * *

 

Eliza felt a tingle start in-between her shoulder blades only to wrap around her in a warming hug before swelling her heart. A little more that luck had lead her here, she could feel the distinction now. Though the knowledge was soothing it did not completely dispel the cloud over her spirit. However, it did give her the impression that meeting this woman would give her a path to some of the answers she had been seeking.

“Maybe. I’ve been out a few other times, but never by myself. My… host... was insistent that it was too dangerous. Granted only a couple of occasions via manhole but didn’t have any trouble.” She looked at the offending hole in the ground and squinted. “If anyone asks I will swear that, that access is not up to code. Shotty utility work is not my fault.” She blew a puff of air out her snout in the general direction of the ego-bruising hole in the ground.

Without moving Eliza rolled her eyes to take in the woman again. There was something about her that was so completely different from what the ferret-woman would expect that it made her realize that she wasn’t the first mutant this healer had encountered. That fact was becoming clearer the longer she was in her presence. The skill and lack of hesitation in her hands was apparent. The wounded ferret lay still as she was ministered to and played the woman’s earlier words over again in her head.

It was curious that this mutant healer, who popped up in random alleyways, a most welcome convergence in the ferret’s case, spoke so highly of herself. Though the way she talked, it was not from a place of arrogance, but as if she was stating a simple fact, with earned confidence. “You’ll have to forgive me,” She said quietly, hoping not to offend her benefactor. “but you made it seem like I should know who are… but I haven’t a clue.”

She finally raised her head, snaking her neck slightly to look the woman directly in the eye. “But I can tell you’re a good person. On that count alone I AM lucky to have found you.” She smiled fully, causing her eyes to narrow and the tips of her fangs to peek out. She lifted her right arm and extended her palm. “Elizabeth VonHertz, but you can call me Eliza.”

* * *

 

Phoenix felt a pang of pity as she returned Eliza’s smile, her own jade eyes crinkling at the edges from her crows feet.  The poor thing has been a been a mutant for such a short time that she still introduced herself by her first and last name, she thought. Phoenix had met so many of them, especially lately.  There was a new slew of mutants, victims of the mutagen canisters that she and her children occasionally found.  This woman must have had an encounter with one.  She took the ferret’s palm and closed her own fingers around it in a handshake.  “Most mutants call me the Phoenix,” she said, giving her usual refrain.  “It is a pleasure to meet you Eliza.”  

She took the cloth off of Eliza’s temple again, not wanting to keep it on for too long.  Again, more hair came off with it, and Phoenix frowned at the offending fur.  She softened her eyes, to look at the ferret with the glow-that-was-not-a-glow, but when she did, she couldn’t see anything wrong with it.  It shimmered transparently, just like anyone elses did.  The only difference she could detect was that it danced quite a bit more.

“Your host is correct,” she said, falling onto her bottom and sitting with her legs in a pretzel.  “It is dangerous.”  She looked at Eliza kindly, and placed the clay filled rag on her the knee of her jeans.  She took a deep breath, and braved the question, “You haven’t been a mutant for very long, have you?”


	4. Chapter 4

The handshake was firm, confident and without a hint of fear. Eliza was almost reluctant to release the gesture, something so simple, so HUMAN, that she had taken it for granted in the past but now craved. When the compress had been removed from her head again Eliza took it as permission for her move. She sat up gingerly and took the opportunity to adjust her clothing back into it’s proper place. Brushing off what dirt she could, Eliza was glad to see that at least she had acquired no new rips in her skirt and wouldn’t have to do any mending. She was also happy to note that the throbbing had reduced to little more than a dull headache and she could focus properly without going cross-eyed first.

She looked up at the Phoenix in time to catch the oddly appraising look she gave Eliza before settling herself to the pavement. She also couldn’t help but notice the additional fur that was no longer attached to her body. She had thought that being mutated had negated her claim on vanity, but apparently it wasn’t the case. Subconsciously she scratched the inside of her left arm where a shaved patch had just barely started to grow in. Anymore thinning and it might become too noticeable to hide properly, especially from Donnie as he sought fresh samples to test his retro-mutagen on.  

Eliza only hesitated briefly when confronted with the statement about her mutant status. It wasn’t really a question. How much could she say though? Splinter and the boys were very adamant about staying “in the shadows”. It wasn’t her place to betray their privacy. Well, the woman hadn’t asked about them and Eliza wanted to talk. No, she NEEDED to.

“Early spring. So no, not very long at all. Its been a few weeks, I guess going on months now.” She gave a lopsided smile. “We don’t even live here. This was suppose to be a vacation, our first in years, while I was exploring an opportunity in town. But then I had a run in with some seedy characters who had the… well... mutagen with them.” She sighed. “Long story short, some help came along, but not before I got turned in this.” She waggled her hand in front of her face with just a hint of agitation. “Some days are better than others but it’s confusing and I kinda hate it.”

She crossed her arms and rubbed them in a self hug, only to have some fur drift away from her in a puff. Annoyed and embarrassed she turned her head away and rolled her eyes skyward while mumbling under her breath. “The sheddin’s a new twist though.”

* * *

 

Phoenix’s eyes followed Eliza as she gingerly sat up, her head now a good deal taller than her own.  She was a sinuous thing, and reminded her slightly of Medusa, a being with a body that could move in a way that would amaze those who watched.  Simply seeing her wiggle her way out of the manhole cover hinted at that.

The self-soothing gesture of the ferret mutant wrapping her arms about herself and rubbing was not lost on Phoenix.  She always  felt so helpless when this part of any new mutation came up.  The mutation process, a very painful thing she’d been told, was only the beginning of a transformation that took some people a very long time to come to terms with.  She knew of several who had been mutants for more than a decade, and still the bitterness and hatred of their bodies had not waned.  She had never found anything that she could say, or anything that she could do that would ease the psychological journey from being human to being a mutant.  All she could do was listen, and try to understand something she had never gone through,and she doubted that did much to help.  But it was all she could do.

“We don’t even live here…” The woman’s lopsided grin was disarming, one of her canines showing.  It indicated a personality trait that differentiated those humans who would survive being a mutant, and those who didn’t; they knew some sort of change had to take place.  Whether this woman would make that change in her mind, the healer didn’t know.  It wasn’t her place to.  She noted the ‘we’, and tikkied a mark toward an emotional and psychological solution for Eliza.   Being part of a ‘we’ was a powerful thing.

“You’re selling your luck very short,” Phoenix said, not ignoring the obvious cues the woman was giving that this transformation was not being accepted very readily.  “Help came.  For most mutants, no help comes at all.”  She watched the fur from Eliza’s arm’s waft up and out away from her like lines of silver sparkles.  “Has your shedding been like this since you were mutated?”

* * *

 

"Hahaha, always a silver lining to every cloud right?" She had to admit that it was a valid point. If it weren't for the Hamato family she'd been in an alien lab and Gwyn, well she didn't want to think about what would have happened to her daughter. She had to blink rapidly to hold back the tears that sprung up at the very possibility. "You are right though. Things could have ended very badly. I should be thankful for the small blessings."  

Eliza gave a couple shallow sniffs, trying to further dispel the urge to cry. She was so suddenly assaulted by emotions dredged up by the memory of that night that she didn't know if it was from heartache or gratitude. Without meaning to she inhaled the scents around her and engaged that part of her brain that was still new to her but very effective in turning smell into information.

She latched onto the distraction as an easy escape from her tumultuous heart. Maybe she could use her nose to learn more about this woman. Eliza ignored the city around her and focused on the Phoenix. She had a lot of layers for such a tiny thing. More than the ferret had enough experience to decipher. Still the cloud of herbs and ointments, which she now understood to be various medicines, was the most prominent. Well, she had already proven herself to be a competent healer, maybe she had something else in her bag of tricks that could help.

"Actually, no. It's only gotten this bad in the last 9 or so days." She shrugged her shoulders, trying not be embarrassed about a matter she might have considered a personal hygiene issue. “I was hoping it was just a weather thing. But Sp… my host… who is also furred, doesn’t seem to have it this bad.” The ferret paused, reluctant to reveal some of her more intimate symptoms but recognizing that she couldn’t get the help she needed if she wasn’t willing to share. “My… ummm… appetite... has also… changed.” She gazed into Phoenix’s eyes, hoping for some kind answer, praying it wasn’t as bad as she thought it could be.

* * *

 

Phoenix’s mind immediately latched onto the reluctance with which Eliza had mentioned her change in appetite.   Hair loss, change of appetite, now the, perhaps, change in girth that might have made this manhole be more shotily constructed than the other’s she’d poken out of, pointed toward pregnancy.  Phoenix had never met a pregnant mutant.  Which meant she must have been pregnant before she was mutated.  She wondered if a baby would be viable, did it mutate if the mother mutated?  If she’d only been mutated for what was going on months now, she could have easily been in the first trimester without knowing it.   

That was probably the last thing this woman needed if she was still finding her form confusing and repugnant, having a baby that may very well be just as confusing and repugnant to her.

“Not everyone sheds at the same rate,” she said casually.  It sounded like Eliza needed casual right now, even though she knew the conversation was soon to go in a not so casual direction.  “Different animals shed at different rates, and different individuals within a species shed at different rates.  It is the same way with mutants, some shed more than others.  Some who were mutated into the same species shed differently.”

Mutants of the same species...the thought sparked a rabbit hole in Phoenix’s overactive doctor-brain.  It sounded from the little description she gave of her ‘home life’ that her host had taken it upon himself to teach her the ways of mutant life.  His philosophy did not seem to be the same as hers, if he insisted that she stay underground.  Eliza had intimated an apprehension of being in trouble when she got back.  The ferret woman did not seem particularly timid, in fact, she seemed rather fully abled.  Her speaking, while self-deprecating, was not whiny.   She seemed to be on the path of accepting her new form, her new life, whatever that may be to her.  If the ferret was not exaggerating, and Phoenix had no reason to think she was, her fear of being in trouble indicated that her host was not a particularly accommodating person once he had made a decision.     If her host was also a ferret, and if he had taken it upon himself to teach her about more things than just not going above ground where a human could find you, that could certainly account for Eliza’s condition.  Just because Phoenix had never met a pregnant mutant, didn’t mean one couldn’t exist.  And it seemed a greater chance that it could, if both mutants were mutated both from and to the same species.  

She kept her eyes on Eliza’s, trying not to show the slight embarrassment she had when starting these kinds of conversations, and asked, “Have you engaged in any kind of sexual relations in the past...months?”


	5. Chapter 5

The world inside her head went still while her body had the complete opposite reaction. Her pupils became pinpricks, eyes no longer seeing what was in front of her. Her heart raced till the only thing she could hear was the pounding of her blood as it raced through her system. Her skin was chilled and not even her pelt could warm the pit of ice that settled into her core. The rolling in her stomach that she had denied earlier came into existence and threatened to reject what little she had eaten that day. Breathing was a thing that she was no longer acquainted with as her feeble attempts failed to get past her closed throat. Her muscles were all at once primed, ready to flee, yet useless in holding her up as her bones became little more than jelly. Only the passiveness of her current posture kept her upright as the ferret collapsed in on herself, body and soul.

No. No. No nono nononononoooo. It was the only word that came to her. Yet the emptiness in her heart knew it to be a lie. She wasn’t stupid. She knew where the medicine woman was going with this line of questioning. Perhaps if she were someone who had a casual attitude about physical relationships, it wouldn’t have bothered her. If she were someone who had nothing to hide, she would have brushed it aside with a laugh. She wasn’t, she was bothered, she had tried to hide and she was not laughing.

Her brain and body both came back to life with a single shuddering breath. She found the Phoenix’s gaze and held it, pleading for something she wasn’t even sure of. Help. Understanding. Forgiveness. She could give none of these to herself. She had betrayed everything she held dear in a moment of weakness that she regretted immediately but had hopes of rectifying. Then she was mutated and all hopes of redemption were gone. In the quiet of her room she sought absolution. A small part of her even thought that this transformation was her own personal purgatory. A fitting punishment for not reining in her animalistic self, to become an animal herself.

“We…” She had trouble swallowing against a mouth that felt full of sand, as if it were trying to bury the words before they came out. “... you have to under… understand. I… I thought… that… we… that he.” She wasn’t getting anywhere with her stumbling explanation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Stalling wasn’t going to make saying it any easier. She boiled what she had to say down in her head to the most important points and tried again. She opened her eyes and braced for the truth being let into the light.

“Yes. We were going to be engaged. I thought I was strong. I was weak. It was one night, about five days before… before I became THIS. He was the only one… the only one in the two years since my husband died.”

* * *

 

The poor thing was panicking, Phoenix could see that before Eliza even said anything.  She knew the answer as soon as the saw the look on the ferret’s face,  She felt a thrill inside of her--a pregnant mutant!  There was a pregnant mutant in front of her.  The thrill niggled with jealousy, so that she had to bat it away, and a little voice said in the back of her head,  You’re a little long in the tooth to be jealous of that, woman.  It left as quickly as it came, replaced by an excitement, the tingle of a new medical condition which she had previously thought impossible, the enthusiasm of a fellow mother bearing witness to another mother.

Eliza was not seeing it that way, however.  “I thought I was strong,” she said.

Phoenix’s heart caught in her throat.  It had been so long since she’d been in the world of human morality, in a world that would deny the bodily enjoyment of a physical activity due to social constraints, that it had not crossed her mind at all that being pregnant would be a bad thing.  Her world consisted of simple pleasures, a deep sensuality being one of them.  And while she did not engage in the physical act of sensuality, she did not begrudge anyone else in her world from doing so.  Not even her children.  She simply wished they were less flippant about it.  Upon thinking that Eliza might be pregnant, she thought only that it might be the solution to the woman’s hair loss problem.   That it was not the solution to her problem, but rather the cause of another one, was more and more evident with every passing moment.

Phoenix reached out and took her hands, larger, with long fingers, soft and silky, and smiled kindly into her face.  She felt the golden ants gathering in her hands, and gently let them out, to travel from her own pores, into the fingers and palms she was holding.  Her eyes softened again, to see the erratically dancing light that was not a light around Eliza, feeling the heat in her hands rising, as the tingling increased.  She could see the panic rising in Eliza’s face, and knew she had to do something.  Her first instinct was to get angry at Eliza’s emphatic, “...before I became THIS.”   She knew from experience the THIS was a substitution for the word monster, freak, abomination.  A mutant was none of those things.  Eliza was none of those things.  She was beautiful, the color of her fur silvery in the moonlight.  Her body was sinuous and strong, and now it was creating a new life, a new life in a way that no one had ever done before.

The inclination was quick and knew getting angry was not going to help anything.  She was scared, as all mutants were scared when this life first happened to them, before they had adjusted.  Eliza now had a new reason to be scared, to add to all of the ones she had, whatever they were, that had caused her to not be able to take her underground hospitality any longer…

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” she said, her voice full of compassion.  “Sleeping with someone isn’t a weakness.  It simply is.”   She was quiet a moment, looking into the ferret’s eyes.  Her smile widened, as if she had just received a surprise.  “And look what its done!  You a new life growing inside of you!”

* * *

 

Eliza felt a calm that was not her own invading her body, traveling up her arms, warming the ice in her veins and calming her pounding heart. She looked down at her hands, not realizing that the woman had taken them into her own. Tears built and dammed up in her eyes, distorting her vision and causing tricks of light that created a glow around their joined hands. Blinking as she shook her head in denial of the comforting words, the hot tears of regret and fear began to soak into and darken the mask of grey fur around her face.

Looking in the healer's soft eyes, a part of her was greatly relieved for the simple acceptance this woman, the Phoenix, offered to her. Another part of her wanted to yell and scream at obvious joy this stranger was expressing at her situation. She knew nothing of the implications this meant in her life. How could she face her daughter ever again with her head held high. She was a parent, an example, she wasn't suppose to make mistakes, not like this. Even if she had been caught up in the moment, she should have known better, been responsible. Just because it had been a dozen years since she'd gotten pregnant didn't mean the possibility had disappeared. A third part of her just wanted to cry and be held.

In the end it was the basic need for comfort that won out. In a quick, but smooth, movement Eliza wrapped her arms around the woman's waist and pillowed her triangular head in the hollow of the tiny healer's crossed legs. There was no more room for her larger frame so she curled her body into as tight a ball as she could manage at the Phoenix's side. Finally she wrapped her tail, currently fluffed out in stress, around the Phoenix till the tip of it completed the circle to brush Eliza's own cheek. She clung to this small woman, who she knew so little about, and cried out her soul. She had been too busy being someone else's rock, even as her life had fallen apart time and again, to tend to her own heart and this revelation was the final straw.

The ferret-woman didn't know how long she cried, though she was vaguely aware of a soothing words and soft hands. Eventually she physically could mourn no more and tried to calm herself with small breaths that only lead to a case of hiccups. Drained, but thinking again, she had to ask clearly. In a situation like this it was important that there be no room for doubt.

Without raising her head she asked in a small shakey voice. "Do you really think I could be pregnant? Couldn't it be something else?" Despite herself one huffed chuckle escaped her throat. "Either way I can't exactly go to the corner market for a pee stick."

* * *

 

Phoenix’s heart broke as Eliza seemed to collapse in on her, her head falling into her lap, her body wrapping around her and pulling her close, like one of her children when they were emotional pain.  She stroked Eliza’s head, and her shoulders, and her tail.  She was aware of the raised hair on the ferret-woman’s body, and he poured the golden ants into her until the tingling left her hands.  Then, she was left with only her own resources to comfort the distraught woman in her lap.

She petted her, and crooned, “It will be alright.  It know it seems hard now, but it will be alright.  You aren’t alone.  It will be alright.”  It was all she could think to say.

As she tried to give relief to the woman’s troubled heart, her words as consolatory as possible, her thoughts shuttered with each stroke of her hand.  The woman in her lap cried as if she had not yet mourned her old life at all.   She had been a mutant for months now, she’d said, and still she was bawling in the lap of a stranger.  With another stroke of her hand, she thought, what kind of person is her host, that still, after these weeks, she is having this reaction?   Guilt slapped her in the back of the head, so that she quelched  the thought quickly.  Her host could simply be giving her a place to stay, food to eat.  Because she had a place to go did not mean she had a place to feel comforted.  While Phoenix may have her reservations and complaints about the Grey Cats, one thing she could say about them was they were a true community.  If she was in need, and actually did go to them for help, even emotional help, she would probably get it.  They weren’t just a congregation of mutants, they were a cohesive unit.  She had no idea of the community that this woman was being hosted by, if it was a community at all.  It could just be one mutant, holing out in the sewer somewhere to keep safe, and she was simply there.  

Eliza’s tears finally stopped, and she began to shake with hiccups.    Without raising her head Eliza asked in a small shakey voice. "Do you really think I could be pregnant? Couldn't it be something else?"

Without stopping her petting, she replied, “It could be something else.  But what you have told me seems to lead to that conclusion”  She thought for a moment, debating on whether to let her next words out or not.  “But, it may very well be something else.  I have been doing this a long time, and I have never heard of, or met a pregnant mutant before.”  She tried to maneuver her head to that she could get a better look at Eliza’s face in her lap.  “If you are pregnant, you’d be the first I’ve ever encountered.”


	6. Chapter 6

The thought that this was all a simple misdiagnoses based on circumstance and hasty conclusions, was extremely appealing. If it wasn’t possible for mutants to be pregnant then the odds of her being so were greatly reduced. But she wasn’t a mutant when she got pregnant, she was still human. She still had hopes of being human again. Donatello was constantly assuring her that he was getting closer to a retro-mutagen. The possibilities were endless and she contemplated them as she stayed still. Hiccuping and basking in the simple comfort of being petted.

If she was with child, what kind of child was it? Human? Ferret? Whatever the species, would it be whole or deformed? I was a miracle she hadn’t miscarried during her violent transformation. What would she do if Donnie was successful? Would the fetus survive a second transformation? Would she take that chance? Regardless of the circumstances she knew she could never bring harm to a potential life if the risk could be avoided. What did this all mean for Gwyn? Her daughter had begged for a sibling for years, not understanding her parents troubles in conceiving again. How would she react to this new little life?

If she wasn’t pregnant what else could be wrong with her?

If she wasn’t pregnant then she was making a damn fool of herself.

She was aware of the subtle shift in the Phoenix’s body underneath her as she attempted to look Eliza in the face.

“If you are pregnant, you’d be the first I’ve ever encountered.”

The ferret returned the courtesy and lifted her head a bit so they could converse easily. Eliza also loosened her grip a brought a paw up wipe at her damp face. She didn’t make any other move to disentangle herself, she needed the security she felt wrapped around the motherly figure. In her mid-thirties she thought she had no more need for this kind of reassurance, how wrong she was.

“Well, guess someone ***hiccup*** has to be.” The attempt at humor seemed flat in her own ears but she decided to press on. “Best we start at the beginning and try to ***hiccup*** figure this out together. I have no clue what ***hiccup*** normal was suppose to be like to in ***hiccup*** this body. I haven’t even had another female to com ***hiccup*** compare myself too.”

She stopped and took a deep breath. She was getting so annoyed with her hiccuping that she was starting to get mad. The positive side effect of that was that her logical brain was being given a chance to come forward and thinking practically was easier. After a moment of silence she felt that the diaphragm spasms were under control and continued.

“I haven’t had a period since the change. But that wasn’t too unusual, I’ve always tended to be irregular during times of stress.” One cheek lifted in an attempt to smile. “You’d have to agree, this is pretty stressful. I never felt nauseous or had the urge to throw-up. Except once, but it wasn’t my fault. Captain Crunch does not belong on pizza. Bleh.” She shivered in disgust at the memory of trying one of Mikey’s pizzas without heeding the warning.

“But some days, I have no desire to eat anything. Food has no appeal and I just want to sleep. Chalked it up to depression.” She sighed and averted her eyes. “Other days I am starving. But… I don’t want something simple like a sandwich. I want… I want something small and alive. I want to chase it.” Taking another breath she pressed forward. “Once, I hunted down a sewer rat and… it felt so natural. I was so disgusted with myself but still I ate it. And ***hiccup*** it was delicious.”

* * *

 

Phoenix’s smile turned from comforting to approval.  “That’s a good thing,” she said.  It means that your body is working just the way it should.  If I recall correctly, ferrets eat rats.  And they chase small, living things.”  She winked, “And think they are delicious. One of my daughters used to chase rats when she was little, and then give them to her sister to eat.   She also thinks they are delicious.”  Saying these things out loud sounded ludicrous to Phoenix’s ears.  She had thought of them many times before, they were perfectly natural.  Why wouldn’t a cat chase rats?  Why wouldn’t a snake eat them?  Come to think of it, why wouldn’t have Ailurosa have eaten one?  Maybe she had tried one once, and didn’t like it.  Or perhaps all she’d cared about was the chase.  In her mind, they were now perfectly normal things.  

She moved her strokes to Eliza’s face when she saw the ferret wiping her own tears.  She couldn’t tell how old she was, only that she wasn’t a young adult, and she obviously wasn’t as old as Phoenix herself.   “It will take time to get used to being the body that has more instincts than what you’re used to.  You just have to remember,” she looked into her eyes, the approving smile gone, a serious and firm look replacing it, “that you are a person.  You are a different kind of person.  But you are a person.”  She knew from her past patients that this distinction was an imperative one if the mutant in question was going to make it through the mourning period psychologically intact.  She had told her children these same words many times in their early adolescence, when they were trying to figure out how come into their own.  

As Eliza had been talking, Phoenix’s own thoughts ran similar to hers.  Would a baby be viable?  What would be the condition of it if it was viable?  Her knowledge of genetics was rather basic, she knew what she needed to know to help something that was a hybrid human.  But she was pregnant, if she was pregnant, before the mutation, it would mean that the baby would already have all of its genetic code...but it would have been exposed to the mutagen also, through Eliza.  Would that make it a ferret?  She had seen the failed mutations, a flash of Aetos came to her, would the baby be one of those?

“As to your symptoms,” she said, “they could indicate any number of things.  You are absolutely right, this is very stressful,” she chuckled.  “It could very well be depression, even the hair loss.  It could be that is how a ferret’s appetite works, I am not sure of that off of the top of my head, I’d have to look it up.”  She moved her eyes from Eliza’s for a moment, upward and to the left, thinking.

Walk, she heard the familiar voice in the back in of her head say.  The sweet, trusting feeling that always accompanied the unbidden thought, whether it was telling her something apprehensive or something pleasing, came to her.  It gave her direction, a place to go.  Moving around will be good for her, Phoenix agreed.  Moving the body released endorphins which helped someone feel better, whether they were a mutant or a human.   And Phoenix had nowhere to be, and nothing else to do but tend to her current patient, whom she was currently, warmly wrapped up in.

“You said that you wanted to go to the park,” Phoenix offered, bringing her eyes back to Eliza’s.   “There is one close to here, would you like me take you to it?”

* * *

 

As the Phoenix held her face and wiped away the last of her tears Eliza she was once again struck by what a blessing it was to have been brought into contact with this woman who played Florence Nightingale to mutants. It was nice to be told that something about her was normal. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. The ferret leaned into the touch of gentle hands just in time for their hold on her face to be stronger, matching the hint of steel and authority that laced the healer’s voice as she imparted her wisdom.

“You just have to remember, that you are a person.  You are a different kind of person.  But you are a person.”  

Eliza couldn’t look away from the serious gaze that Phoenix leveled at her should she have wanted too. The truth of those words sent a wave of confirming tingles through her. She hadn’t really been accepting the reality of her transformation, only enduring it. She was in a state of limbo, ashamed of what she had become, unwilling to seek help with it but putting on a brave face for the sake of those in the lair. It was how she had been trained her whole life to be. Life was full of challenges and we were measured on how well we overcame them. Endure till the end. From that very first night in the lair Eliza had been lead to believe that this state was temporary.

Now, that very assumption was undergoing a shift. What if there was no end? Splinter had been a mutant for over 15 years now, and the boys would be mutants their entire lives. Now, if she were to birth a mutant child, would she also give up her human life to be a parent to that child. At the very least, she may have to dedicate her body for the next six or seven months, possibly longer, to the nurture that new life into being. That was decent chunk of time to spend enduring life rather than living it.

Then the Phoenix started listing the ways in which her symptoms may point to something other than pregnancy, and Eliza had to reign in her frustration. The healer was only doing what any good medical professional would, presenting the possibilities till conclusive evidence was available and the proper treatment could be followed. She understood, she had spent more time around medical professionals in the last six years than many people did in a lifetime, but it still didn’t make being the patient any easier. She was the one who had jumped to the conclusion of pregnancy at the first question along that tangent and promptly had a breakdown. Pfft… maybe her hormones were out of whack as well.

She was relieved when Phoenix released her gaze to look away and appeared to be contemplating something. When asked if she would like to go to the park she was more than relieved. Though the comfort from physically being wrapped around the woman was nice, laying in a dirty New York alley was not particularly pleasant.

Eliza nodded her head, sniffing away the last remnants of her crying, and started to uncurl herself. She lifted her body from the ground but remained on all fours and strode a few paces away as a courtesy. She had the urge to shake out her fur but didn’t want to hit the woman with her tail or shower her with any errant hair that might result. Taking the Phoenix’s comforting words to heart she indulged in to good tossing roll of her shoulders, torso and rear while her limbs remained firmly planted. As a deference to her recent injury she kept her neck and head stable. Then in a sinuous arc she rose up onto two legs, slowly so she wouldn’t get dizzy, and stretched out to her full height of nearly six foot, enjoying the realignment of joints, before slumping down into the upright but slightly stooped posture she found most comfortable for bipedal travel.

She took a moment to adjust her clothing to lay properly before turning back to the Phoenix. The ferret-woman smiled genuinely and unabashed for the first time that night. “I would like that very much. Thank you. Maybe…” she cocked her head to side, a recent habit she’d pick-up, “along the way you could tell me more about your rat chasing and munching girls. Sounds like we may have a lot in common. Plus, my daughter will be excited to learn that I’m not the only female mutant around, she’d never forgive me if I didn’t come home with a good story or two.”

* * *

 

Phoenix laughed outright was Eliza shook herself, the joy at seeing something so abandoned in a mutant body filled her joy.  It was one of those amazing things that made all of these amazing creatures amazing to her.

“...tell me more about your rat chasing and munching girls,” Eliza said, her voice the happiest that Phoenix had heard it that night.

The smiled faded, for a moment, replaced by a concerned sadness., before it was once again on her face.  It was the motherly smile of before, only this time tinted with nostalgia.

She realized that she had never had to tell anyone that Ailurosa was dead!  Everyone in her life already knew.  In the six years since she’d been gone, Phoenix had never once spoken the words that she was no longer there.  Her absence did not hurt any longer, not like it did for so long.  It still made her profoundly sad, and occasionally she still cried, but it was not the tears of despair that she shed in the year after her death, but rather the tears of longing, of missing her and knowing she would never see her again.  They were sometimes tears of unknowing, the lack of knowledge of what her life would have been like had she lived.  But the hurt wasn’t there. Their lives had moved on, smoothly in some places, not so smoothly in others, and the catmint grew over her grave, bushy with dark green leaves and tiny blue flowers.  

She opened her mouth to say something, and the words caught in her throat, as if she were admitting that she did something wrong.  What’s the matter with you woman? she said to herself.  Spit it out.  But all that came out was, “You are by no means the only female mutant, by any means.  I know many, many, many, many of them.”  She said her many’s quickly, bringing them all together into one long word.  

“You need a good story for your daughter, huh?”  Phoenix picked up her bags and looped them around herself and began walking in the direction of the park, Eliza beside her.

Eliza was tall, she towered at least a foot over the little healer, and her body moved sinuously as she walked.  It was quite mesmerizing to look at, actually, with her fur shimmering in the moonlight as she walked, as her body rippled with muscles underneath the curvy, highly feminine body.  Many a Grey Cat would try to pounce on her in a heartbeat, and not in a bad way.

She didn’t want to lie Eliza, by leading her on that Ailurosa was not living, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure she wanted to share something so intimate with someone whom she’d just met, someone who didn’t know.  You’re the one who opened that door, girl, she told herself, you mentioned her in the first place.

“All of my children are practically full grown, now,” she said, still trying to figure out what to say, and how to say it.  “But, when the girls were little, they were a handful!  My daughter Medusa is a snake mutant, and she would never get off of me.  She wrapped herself around my arm until she was too big for that, then she wrapped around my arm and shoulders.  Then both my arms, so it was like I was wearing a boa constrictor boa.  When she started having to wrap around my body too, I had to force her to get off of me.  She was really heavy too!”  Phoenix laughed.  “She did not take the transition well.  She moped, and she whined, and she complained that she was cold.”  Her face turned slightly embarrassed, and she looked up at Eliza, “Come to think of it, nothing has really changed much, except that she isn’t wrapped on me anymore.”


	7. Chapter 7

The ferret-woman moved at an easy pace. Though there was an obvious difference in their gaits due to height she did not need to truncate her stride at all. The Phoenix moved with a inner energy and seemed well accustomed to walking at a faster pace. In her former incarnation Eliza would have been hard-pressed to keep up with her. She had noticed the slight hesitation and dip in mood when Eliza had requested more information about her family, but choose not to focus on it.   **  
**

* * *

 

Phoenix was quiet for a moment, as she thought.  “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Once, the girls were angry at their brother’s for something.  I can’t remember what now.  They decided that they were going to get back at them.  I remember them scheming for days, to figure out the best way to pay them back...I wish I could remember what the boys did...they would huddle together in the corner, and look at them with dark, darting glances.”  Phoenix chuckled at the memory. 

“It was like out of a bad movie,” she squinted her eyes, and looked around the street furtively, her head turning from side to side in jerky, paranoid motions.   “At this point, the kids didn’t have their own beds, we all slept together in my bed.  So one night,” she made her voice soft, obviously enjoying the story, “we all cuddle in the bed together, sort of in a pile.  Well, in the middle of the night, I feel this tickling on my back.  I didn’t think anything of it, you know,” she shrugged, to show her nonchalance, “just an itch in the middle of the night.  Then i felt another one, and another one, then I felt them on my legs, and my neck, and head.  I reach up, to scratch my head, and this big, round spider is burying itself in my hair!”  Phoenix put her hands by her sides in fists and shivered at the thought.  

“Then touching all the other tickles, they were all big, round spiders too!”  Her voice rose higher as she spoke, “The girls had collected a bucket of spiders, and stuffed them in the boys’ fur.  Of course, they didn’t stay in the boys’ fur.  They crawled out into the middle of the pile, which happened to be where I was sleeping at the time.  They boys didn’t even know they had spiders in their fur, they didn’t even wake up until I screamed!”

* * *

 

It was very comforting to listen to a mother talk about the exploits of her children. It reminded her very much of the circles of women she would interact with on a daily basis before her transformation. At work, volunteering, church or even the plethora of people she would bump into at the grocery store. It made the ache for her close-knit rural community burn more intensely. She missed the kind and genuine people, something she had grown to love, all living their simple but happy lives. Not for the first time she regretted that fateful decision to come back east, though she never could have prepared just how strangely her life would come to be changed.

It was impossible to hold to her heartache for long. Phoenix was so animated in her storytelling. It was obvious that she would have been excellent at bedtime to her little ones. A skill that her own daughter possessed, loving to add inflection and drama to her recitations, though for some reason she was annoyed when Eliza herself tried to do the same.

She didn't hold back occasional snicker at the tale of sibling mischief, and Phoenix bearing the brunt of the reprisal. The ferret-woman's laughs sounded more like nasal huffs and sniffs unless she was was really letting go. She would have to work on that some more, it was not appealing when what used to be polite titter of amusement now came across like she was trying to get a crusty bit out of her nose. Eliza, did that a lot. Identified quirks and refined them in private to replace her lost human equivalents. Ear flicks and head tilts had begun to fill in for once expressive eyebrows and dimples.

"It sounds like you had your hands full!" She smiled while she continued to follow the animated Phoenix. "You're a better woman than me. I only ever had one in the house and she didn't even have fur or scales." She laughed again trying to picture the scene though the image was fuzzy at best only knowing that one was a snake and the others had fur.

"Thanks, she'll love that story. Thankfully for me though she won't try to repeat it. She doesn't like bugs beyond butterflies and ladybugs." Eliza huffed in amusement "I may have to skip the bit about your snake child for my own sanity, though." She looked down through the pavement they walked on, imagining the tunnels underneath.

"It can get chilly below sometimes and Gwyn seems to believe that one of the perks of having a mutant mom is that she gets to flop on top of me as her own personal warm spot. Guess our girls have something in common." She shook her head and looked at the Phoenix. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice that she's not scared of me anymore, but the physical attention can be overwhelming occasionally. I can never be sure if she's looking at me as mom, a throw rug or the coolest pet ever!"

Eliza put the back of her hand to the side of mouth and leaned down conspiratorially. "Though just between you and me I don't ALWAYS protest when she starts scratching behind my ears." She wiggled said appendages for emphasis and smiled.

* * *

 

The street in front of them opened up to trees and the asphalt was replaced with mulched walkways.  In the cool air, the flowers of the ornamental cherry trees quivered gently, letting a soft fragrance sift down among the smells of the city, for those who were sensitive enough to smell it.  Phoenix took a deep breath, the smell only on the edge of her awareness, but enough of it was there for her to be able to smell it.  The mulch was still thick with the beginning of the season, it had not yet been kicked off by joggers or the weather.  A few of the trees had not yet leafed out, and many little spring plants and flowers littered the ground underneath them, still able to get enough sun to bloom.

Hearing Eliza talk, Phoenix was suddenly struck--someone else was talking about their own child!  Not hers, not a child that was once theirs, but a child that was with them now, here, only at home, wherever her home currently was.  She had a host, she was staying with someone as a guest.  He must be babysitting while she was out.

Another mother.  Phoenix bit her lip as Eliza talked, so as not to interrupt her with a babble of questions: where is your daughter?  How old is she?  She’s with you?  What kind of mutant had she turned into when she touched the mutagen ooze?  A ferret also?

She nodded when Eliza mentioned about her ‘snake child’, it was not an uncommon reaction among the mutants she helped.  Snakes were the natural enemies of a great many species, and for new mutants especially, it was difficult to control the fight or flight response.  She laughed at Eliza’s ear wiggles, looking into her eyes delightedly.

She had caught enough of the subtle cues to figure out that Eliza’s daughter might not be a mutant herself.  The thought slightly disappointed her, she had not met another family unit in all her time in this society, and meeting a mother was thrilling beyond any medical oddity the woman in front of her might represent, even if she had just now realized it.  She ran through her brain for an appropriate question to ask to get more information out of the ferret woman.  The ones that were running through her head weren’t even close to being so: She was afraid of you?!  But you’re her mother, how could she be afraid of you, no matter what you look like?  What do you do when she treats you like a throw rug?  How do you respond when she treats you like a pet?  Doesn’t it get you angry?  Don’t you find it disrespectful?

She settled on a simple and safe question, “Your daughter isn’t a mutant then?”

* * *

 

It was nice to be doing something as casual as walking and having a chat with a friendly ear. Eliza could feel some of her earlier anxiety draining away. Not that the fear or issues were gone by any means, but rather that they were subdued in favor of enjoying a pleasant experience. So caught up she was that she didn't immediately realize that they had entered the park till the scent of growing things assaulted her. The wave of sensory input crashed over, the explosion of life was so glorious that she became lost in it.

Of its own volition her arm stretched up to capture a single new leaf and pluck it from it's perch on the end of a green laden branch. She reveled in the slightly waxy feel and the texture of the raised veins. The aromas filling the air were heavy and she was having a hard time sifting through them. The earth and flora were absorbed and soon pushed aside by more active scents. From the base of a tree was the pungent smell of a tom cat claiming his territory, though it came across as old, possibly even from a few days ago, she could see the scratch marks on the bark. More recently two or three dogs, she didn't have enough experience to tell for sure, had passed over the path they were traveling.

More tantalizing was the sound and smell of birds, chipmunks and squirrels in the trees. They were not active, it still being night and not yet close enough to dawn to rouse them completely. But she could sense them all around and it almost brought her appetite back. It wasn't tempting enough but at least the thought wasn't accompanied by the usual self revolton that normally quickly followed.

Eliza was so caught up in her own little sensory world that she almost missed Phoenix's question. "Hmm... what?" She quickly backtracked her brain to retrieve the query. "Oh, sorry. No, no she isn't." The ferret-woman fiddled with the leaf in her hand. "Like I said, help came that night. I am eternally grateful that it came in time for her to keep safe." She smiled softly as the ferret-woman allowed her mind to be filled with thoughts of Gwyn. "The thought of her is what kept me sane that night. She was the first thing I was able to remember when I came out of the darkness and she kept me fighting afterwords." She looked down at the Phoenix, eyes soft with emotion. "It's a blessing to be able to complain about her now."

She allowed a chuckle to escape. "And there is a lot of complaining. She's been a trooper but the novelty is wearing off and she's ready to go back home. Obviously, that is a bit of a challenge at the moment. She'll be 12 next month and we were planning this huge party. Gwyn would never be so cruel as to say anything about it, but I know she's missing her friends, and her room and her life." She sighed, feeling the troubles of being unable to fix the problem at hand. "I am hoping that she'll be in a better mood after tonight. Our hosts have a human connection, a teenage girl, that Gwyn practically idolizes. They are having a sleepover right now. The time spent above and doing something 'normal' should help her attitude." Eliza smiled, "At least that's the plan."


	8. Chapter 8

Phoenix watched Eliza’s reaction to the park from the corner of her eye as they walked, noting the twitching of her nose, her entranced with the leaf in her hands.  She could tell Eliza was still not comfortable in the body she now bore, little things showed, the looking all around to indicate that Eliza picked up on things that were there that Phoenix could not.  Was she smelling them or hearing them?  Phoenix would definitely have to do some more research on ferrets.  She returned the ferret-woman’s gaze when she looked at her.  She looked sad, despite her words, “It is a blessing to complain about her now.”

She spoke as if her mutation was going to change, as if her life was going to go back to normal, and her Gwyn was going to go back to her friends, her room, her life, that her Gwyn was going to have the big party they had planned.  This woman in front of her had not yet come to terms with the fact that all of that was gone.  That Eliza VonHertz was dead, that a new being had taken her place, and this new being had to be accepted, hopefully embraced, to live a life.

How did one do that when they had a human child still with them?  An almost 12 year old was still a child, she hadn’t let her children go out of the Haunted Warehouse district at that age.  There was no more school for the girl, no more friends, no more hanging out, no more sports, no more...anything.  Even a human connection couldn’t solve that problem.

Phoenix’s thoughts drifted briefly to Kurtzman, her human connection, and wondered how many other humans were a connection to the mutant world.

“I can imagine that it would be difficult for her,” Phoenix paused for a moment, “living in the sewers.”

No sooner had she finished her sentence than, “I smell you…” sang a grizzly voice from a way’s away, drifting through the flowers of the cherry trees.

Phoenix laughed open-mouthed, and turned toward the sound.

* * *

 

The difficulties that Gwyn was having were varied and Eliza was trying her very best to help her daughter cope. She had Mikey to thank for his enthusiasm and diversity in keeping her daughter distracted during the days. That fact alone should make the turtle boy a favorite of hers. Should, but didn't. Eliza was trying her very best to keep a regiment and discipline, that they had been accustomed to at home, intact while living in the lair. The youngest of the Hamato clan did not make that easy.

He was always tempting her daughter to go off sewer skating and exploring, then trying to hide the scrapes and bruises that were the inevitable results. While Eliza had never thought of herself as a hoverer, she was actually quite proud of how independent Gwynevere had always been, the thought of her young daughter roaming with the carefree turtle-teen gave her anxiety. Plus, there was a growing dynamic between the two of them, while still innocent, that set off her mommy alarms.

Eliza's contemplations on her situation at home were cut short before she could give voice to them. Her head snapped away from Phoenix and their conversation to the direction of the noise that interrupted them. The words were so foreign in their context that they didn't really register. The timber of the voice itself however sent an immediate reaction coursing through her body.

The hair on the back of her neck and down her spine stood up and her tail fluffed. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears as the ferret's pulse quickened. Her muscles became tense. Instinctually she took a deep breath through her nose, desperate for more information to evaluate the situation. The result was not exactly helpful, it only resulted in a confusing mix of smells from the immediate vicinity, tainted overly sweet by the cherry blossoms. Only a hint of something new made it into the bouquet, still intangible but enough to freeze her with fear. Somehow she understood it to indicate predator and the depth of the voice made the possibility of something larger than herself very real.     

She was keenly aware of how far away she was from the manhole cover. Her own defenselessness was tearing at her at the panic began to rise. She thought of how the many times she had refused Leonardo's polite offers to show her and Gwyn some basic katas and wished she hadn't brushed them aside. She looked over at the Phoenix, and was surprised to see the smile on her face and joyful light in her eyes even as her hearty laugh emerged to fill the air around them. Her body language was completely relaxed as she turned towards the sound, positioned to move towards it.

Eliza was rendered immobile with indecision. If she fled she had not been paying attention well enough on the way to the park to confidently find her way back. She had no real skills to defend herself with. With no other options she took the only clue she had and prayed that the Phoenix's relaxed attitude boded well for them both. Fighting every instinct that  was screaming at her, Eliza relaxed her posture as much as possible. She was not successful in fully hiding her fangs and the tension wrinkling her pointed snout.

* * *

 

If Phoenix noticed that Eliza was in any worried, she gave no indication of it.  She knew from a decade of experience that any fear shown by anything around a frightened mutant only was immediately shared by all the others around it.  She’d not met a mutant yet where that animal instinct was not only fully intact, but very much in the forefront of their minds.  Her eyes stayed in the direction of the voice, staying still despite her rising excitement.  Finally, she could not stand it anymore, and raised onto her tip toes, stretching out to as tall as she could be, which only just topped five feet, not very tall at all.  The smile on her face, open mouthed and utter delighted, seemed as if it were going to split her face in two.

Out of the trees, rustling the underbrush gently, came a giant bear-man.  He wore a pair of dark green trousers, obviously

tailored to fit his body, with brown cuffs and a brown belt.  The dark blue collared button up shirt he wore was only half way buttoned, unable to span his broad chest.  A leather strap was slung across him, and behind him poked up a large handle to something.  He was a dark brown, with gold eyes that shone in a delight similar to that of his mother’s as he said, his voice gravelly and rough, “Found you.”

Behind him, came a snake, slithering very slowly, her tongue flashing in and out.  Except for the pretty, pale blue baby-doll style t-shirt, covering a small swelling in the chest which indicated her gender, she looked every bit the boa constrictor she had been mutated with.  A coiled whip hung attached to a loose chain belt at what was most likely her waist.  A dark tropical green, darker evergreen diamonds transversed her body to her head, to end at a point in the middle of her muzzle.  She hung back, in the trees, wrapping herself around one of the trunks and swayed slightly, her muscles rippling through her body as she hugged the sweet cherry tree.  

To the other side of the bear came a large ram-man, not as tall as the bear, but wider.  He wore blue pants with a black t-shirt, the darkness of the clothes accentuating the cream of his wool.  Over the t-shirt he wore a denim jacket, with shiny brass buttons on one side, the top one not matching the rest. A leather strap also traversed his chest, and a handle poked out above his shoulder.   Large horns curled around long ears on a big head, which ended in a fuzzy pink nose at the end of his muzzle.  His light brown eyes sported the horizontal pupils of a sheep, and he smiled widely.

Phoenix threw her arm out dramatically, laughing as she did so.  “These,” she said, as proudly as if she’d won first place in a gymnastics competition, “are my children.”  

“Eliza, meet,” she indicated the bear, “Arcos,” he waved a five-fingered paw, tipped in long claws.

“Aries,” the ram looked the ferret-woman up and down appreciatively, and nodded his head, bringing a three fingered hand to stroke his ear.

“and Medusa!”  The snake waved her four fingers delicately, raising a thin arm from her side, and remaining wrapped around the tree trunk.

“Kids,” Phoenix then dramatically indicated her new companion.  “This is Eliza VonHertz.”

* * *

 

If Phoenix herself seemed disarming if eclectic, the same could not be said of her children, they looked downright dangerous. Acros was large and commanding, claws sharp and imposing. When looking at Medusa all she could imagine was her own body in the place of the cherry tree and her gut turned. She had the least visceral reaction to Aries but would not be fooled, he was powerfully built and she had learned recently that a handle peeking over a shoulder meant danger.

These assessments to mere seconds and her body was still primed for some sort of action. Phoenix had been kind to her, and despite their short acquaintance she trusted the healer. Trusted the person she was and so should trust the type of people she would have raised. 'They are people, just different kind of people.' The ferret told herself.

Eliza let out the breath and coughed into her hand. Using the opportunity to make herself look smaller and school her features. After a small bit of fidgeting she looked up and acknowledged them with a careful closed lip smile, the one she practiced to look less threatening. "Nice to meet you."

This time she really saw them. Acros' dancing eyes, Medusa's bashful waves and the puzzling but contemplative look on Aries' face. They were still big but much more approachable than they had been a moment ago.

She turned to Phoenix and allowed her face to relax. "If these are your kids at 'practically grown' I wonder what they'll be like when they're 'done'!”


	9. Chapter 9

All three of the children and Phoenix laughed at Eliza’s comment.  Phoenix bounced slightly, pride bursting from her chest at her beautiful children.  She was proud of their size, and proud that it made an impression.  She often got a twisted satisfaction at seeing the reaction of someone new, who had only seen her, but then been taken aback by her brood.  This time was no different, though it was quick, and she felt slightly guilty afterward.  Not guilty enough to stop doing it, though.  “I guess I was misleading in my description of them,” she said,still with a wide smile.  “They’re doing growing.  But to me they’ll never be grown up.”

* * *

 

“Never grown up?” Aries was the first to come forward, “Has she been telling you stories about her little kids?”  He could smell fear coming off the ferret, despite her schooled features, and guessed that it was mostly Medusa’s doing.  His sister, while generally quite a nice and practical creature, was terrifying to a great many mutants when they first met her.  Her being a snake made it bad enough, her being the largest of the three of them probably made it much worse.  The ram, on the other hand, rarely scared anyone unless he was trying to, and scaring a lady was the last thing he wanted to do, unless she was attacking him.

This Eliza was not attacking him, and was glad of it.  She was pretty, very pretty, with a curvaceous body made all the more amazing by the length of her frame.  Even in the dark of the not-yet morning and the shadows of the trees, he could see she had a gorgeous pelt, gray and soft looking.  He noticed that she was modestly dressed, not a common thing in his world, with a long skirt and a shirt that covered her, leaving nothing exposed.

He could smell her fear dissipate as he came to stand by his mother.  He leaned in conspiratorially, not having to bend down much at all to become the same height as she, and whispered loudly, “Don’t believe anything she’s told you.  It’s all a lie.”

* * *

 

Medusa stayed back in the trees, experience telling her to make herself as non-threatening as possible.  She, too, could smell the fear coming from the ferret woman, and she smelled delicious. Years of schooling herself had made the sensation a background niggles unless she was very hungry.  She found early on in her meeting other mutants that if her body was occupied in another activity, it tended to put those who found her disconcerting a little less frightening.

* * *

 

Arcos fell back at the same time as his brother walked forward, coming to stand by his sister.  The woman standing next to his mother was anxious, he could see the nervous cough into her hand, followed by a practiced  smile. He would let his brother the charmer try to work his magic before approaching.  Besides,  his brother and mother together were more than enough for most people.

* * *

 

Eliza allowed herself a nasally snicker, pleased that her wit had broken the ice and that the children seemed to have as good a humor as their mother. To be fair she hadn’t really asked Phoenix how old her children were, but had somehow gotten the impression they were younger than they appeared. “hahaha. I guess you’re right on that count, size doesn’t mean the same as maturity when it comes to kids. Though I find my own advancing a bit faster than I would like, on both fronts.” She turned her attention away from Phoenix and towards the ram as he moved closer to achieve a more conversational distance. She noted that the healer’s bear son moved to stand with his sister where she remained coiled around a trunk.

She appreciated the distance. Her body may be that of a predator, but she was far from the top of the food chain and could fill the role of prey just as easily. Eliza hated that her brain thought like this now. She was continually fighting the impulse to do so. She had plenty of practice subduing her higher instincts around Splinter and channeling them in other directions. But no so much on the other end of the spectrum. The deference the other two were giving her was noted and it warmed her heart. She knew it was not be an easy thing to be seen as dangerous when one didn’t want to be. Eliza was already feeling calmer and gave them a grateful nod before focusing on their woolly brother.

“Has she been telling you stories about her little kids?”

“Yes, she has. And I have been enjoying them.” Her comment including both mother and son. When he leaned in to not whisper, “Don’t believe anything she’s told you. It’s all a lie.”

She couldn’t help the automatic tilting of her torso away from the invasion of her personal space. Though she made a conscious effort not to actually take a step back. “Oh really?" She drawled, feeling pressed and needing a second to formulate a response. "I guess the reports of your nocturnal habits and lack of epidermal sensitivity have been vastly misrepresented.” Her smile slipped to expose the tip of a fang.

She wasn’t sure exactly why she felt the need to get snarky with Phoenix’s son. Perhaps the lack of parental respect, even jokingly, and his overly confident posture made her want to test him. It’s not to say that she wasn’t just as bad herself on occasion, but she at least tried politeness first. Maybe it was just the mom in her recognizing when a child needed to be taken down a peg.

She shifted her body and folded her arms over her chest, turning her head slightly so that those in the background could hear her clearly. “It’s a shame really. I was lead to believe that your sister and I had similar tastes. I was looking forward to possibly comparing notes.”

Her smile this time was softer and included the entire group. “Besides,” she looked down at the Phoenix and allowed the gratitude she felt for the woman to seep into her eyes and her voice was tender. “they’re some of the nicest lies I’ve heard in a very long time.”

* * *

 

Oh! Aries thought, She’s sassy!  Sassy was always good, pretty and sassy was even better, though the sassy comment itself took him off guard.  He bent down, this time toward his mother, and muttered, “Are you telling her we’re immature and I itch at night?”

His mother whipped out a hand and playfully bopped him in his stomach.  It felt like nothing, despite the force he knew his mother put in it.  He took a step back, as if the force of the blow actually meant something, and found Arcos at his back, smiling slightly.

* * *

 

Trust Aries to immediately start flirting with someone, even if he didn’t know anything about her.  Her brother was such a boor.  If Phoenix was going to tell someone that any of them  were immature, it was bound to be Aries, although that comment seemed out of place for her mother.   Most likely, the ferret had some mettle, and knew a clod when she saw one.  Medusa partially uncoiled herself at Eliza’s mention of her, and came a little forward, keeping the back part of her body around the tree.  Even doing so, she was able to bring her front quite a ways toward the ferret and her mother. She stopped her head at the edge of the trail, still under the trees, but no longer actually within them.  She blinked her black eyes slowly, and smiled shyly as Eliza continued to talk to her mother.

* * *

 

Arcos came forward slowly, eventually overtaking his sister.  He didn’t want to overcrowd the mutant with his mother.  He’d noted her leaning back at Aries leaning forward, a sign that he’d gotten too close to her.  He noticed Aries take a slight step back when his mother slapped him in the stomach, so he came to stand behind him.  He nodded to Eliza’s quick glance at him when he got there, and smiled slightly, in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

* * *

 

Phoenix noted the response that Eliza gave her ram son, and was pleased with it.  Any kind of joking was always a good thing, it meant that one was in good spirits, and that one’s spirits were resilient.  A resilient spirit was necessary for this life Eliza was now going to have to live.  She noted that the ferret woman’s responses were slowly becoming more relaxed since the beginning of their short time together, Phoenix was able to see more than one side of her emotional make up, a medical boon that did not happen for her too often.  If Eliza could keep this attitude up, she’d be alright.

She whipped out her hand and knocked her son in his brick hard stomach when he bent down and muttered to her.  A little flirting was fine, but it was time for it to stop now, he’d put Eliza at ease, and she’d answered him in spades.  Good for her.

She returned Eliza’s smile with a motherly one of her own, basking in the gratitude that the ferret mutant was showering down upon her.  She knew it was one of her faults, the enjoying the gratitude in others, and she tried very hard to measure it out of her by reminding herself that it was not she who did anything for them to grateful for.  They did all themselves, she only helped to remind them how to do it.  But it still made the sensation feel good, and she knew it was easily addicting, so she tilted her head self-deprecatingly and said.  “I’m glad.  They’re all true.  I have found my ability to lie completely gone, since I have very few people to actually practice on.”

But in the back of her mind, the part that she such a difficult time turning off,, that was always analyzing a patient's mental and physical state,  Phoenix noted the actual words that Eliza used, and it worried her.  She liked this woman, she had decided early on, she had gotten no indication to feel otherwise, and for two little stories about unruly children to be the nicest lies she’d heard in a long time, for two little stories about unruly children to bring this kind of gratitude to the forefront of Eliza’s speech worried her.  Her opinion of Eliza’s host, if such small gestures were so appreciated, was depreciating quickly.  Of course, with most of the mutants she knew, she should not be surprised.  Most did not have the emotional reserves to help someone, they could barely help themselves.  They did not understand the help to themselves that helping others gave, she could expect the mutant, whoever he was, that was allowing Eliza to stay with him to be any different.

“But now,” she said, still smiling, “it is your turn to tell us a lie or two about your little one.”

* * *

 

When Eliza noted the snake coming forward, she felt a tingle of anxiety, but quickly attempted to suppressed it. She had to find a way to overcome this. The snake’s movements caused her belted chain to jingle slightly and the ferret’s mind honed in on it. She immediately classified everything that Medusa was wearing, the things that she choose to adorn herself with, the things that made her more human.

It wasn’t much, shirt, belt and whip, but it was enough to distract her curious mind. Was blue her favorite color? The belt was pretty, the chains themselves linked in an interesting and artistic way. Did she make the whip herself? Eliza remembered seeing a special on movie myths where they had shown the process. The braiding was very involved, but Medusa only had four fingers like herself. The fingers at the ends of the the snake’s thin arms looked nimble enough. Perhaps she could give her some tips on braiding Gwyn’s hair.

Then the Phoenix’s snake daughter stopped a respectable distance away and blinked as she gave a small timid smile. There it was. Snakes don’t blink and they certainly don’t show empathy or emotion. This was a girl, albeit a very large and threatening girl, who had no choice in the form she had to live with, something that Eliza could readily identify with. A girl who sometimes whined about being cold, who used to cling to her mother and put spiders in her brother’s fur. Medusa was a fellow mutant, the first female one she had ever meet and someone she would like to get to know. Eliza wouldn’t let her stupid animal brain stand in the way of that.

Her vision was drawn away from Medusa as her brother bear passed her and came to join the rest of his family as Phoenix and Aries had their heads close together to share a private thought. Eliza was taken aback by the sudden hit from the small healer to her large ram child’s torso. He huffed and stumbled back into his brother. She glanced at Acros to make sure that this was normal. Upon receiving a nod and smile she realized that all was well and it was nothing more than familial teasing.

She took a small second to admire that his muzzle was more expressive than her own. He had soft lips where her own mouth ended in more of a taunt fuzzy line. Having spent enough time in the mirror trying to perfect her own facial gestures she was almost jealous of his easy affectations. She had to chuckle inwardly, since when did she start being so vain as to be envious of another’s smile instead of just appreciating the sentiment?

She returned her attention to the mother of these diverse children. Again she was overwhelmed by the gratitude for the simple blessing of being able to meet this family. Granted it was not a typical family but one that seemed to have a strong bond. When she meet the Hamatos it was on a night that ranked amongst one of the top ten worst in her life. Her relationships with them, while friendly and warm, were on occasion strained. They all had their own stresses and the close quarters did not help the situation.

So the thrill of meeting new people was not just nice but an opportunity. She appreciated the warmth that Phoenix had already shown her and if her life truly was about to change she would need help and understanding. She knew from her own life that sometimes those things were easier to find outside ones immediate situation. The thought of revealing a pregnancy to the inhabitants of the lair brought up the impression of both judgement and excessive scrutiny. Neither of which she felt prepared to face alone.

She smiled at Phoenix's admission of honestly, a virtue that she wished more people could claim. She pondered a moment over the request for a story about Gwyn. She had so many, most mundane and typically human, that she was hard pressed to find one that could measure up to the extraordinary that was before her. She looked over the family again, hoping to find some sort of commonality to spark her memory. Her eyes fell to Phoenix's knife, the ominous handles peaking over the boys shoulders and the whip at Medusa's side. It sparked a memory of early and happy days.

"Well, my Gwyn is still growing and I doubt that she'll ever be as imposing as your children. But even when she was little more than a babe, just a chubby toddler, she managed to impress with her weapon mastery."

Eliza stepped back and to the side, placing herself on a slight rise off the path so that everyone could see her. She turned to her back to the group but twisted her neck back over her shoulder so she could be heard. "I had my back to the room, doing dishes in our small corner sink. I could hear Gwyn a couple yards away playing with some noisy toy and knew she would be well occupied. I quickly found myself lost in my task. The space was cramped and so I had a bin of utensils on a small tray table off to my left." She gestured and threw herself into acting out the tale.

"I reached for a large carving knife I knew to be there only to find it gone. Confused I turned only to find my daughter holding the knife, perfect grip on the handle, and pointing it at me like I'm expected to hand over my valuables." The ferret turned around and started dancing back and forth like a tackler at football practice. "I tried to get it away from her but she just kept tracking me and laughing. Eventually I had to call Grant for help. But when he gets there my dear husband just sits back and laughs. I’m so scared that someone was going to get hurt that I was angry. I yell at Grant, 'She has a KNIFE!' desperate for some assistance."

Eliza stopped moving and took a firm stance, affecting a more masculine posture. "Does he help! No! He grabs a butter knife from the table and says," she strikes a pose and brandishes her imaginary cutlery high in the air and drops her voice while affecting an accent "You idiots! We all have swords!"

Eliza was beaming and basking in the memory of days gone by. It occurred to her a moment too late that she had no clue if present company would even get the movie reference. Her eyes slid over to her audience, waiting for their reaction as she could already feel the flush rising up her neck.


	10. Chapter 10

Arcos put his hand on Aries shoulder as he bumped into him, his mother putting a stop his rather inappropriate actions.  At least his brother had taken the hint.  Eliza looked at him uncertainly, an almost confused look on her soft features, her eyeridges raised and slightly furrowed.  He noted that she switched from pleased, to uncertain, to the familiar gratitude that patients showed around his mother, back to uncertain.  She seemed almost to be stretching for something, searching for something, but he couldn’t identify what.  Or if that was even what she was doing. He smiled and nodded at her reassuringly, perhaps she thought that his mother was going to hit her?

Not that it would have done anything.  While the woman in front of him had soft features, fluffed curves and a sweet, if sad, looking face, she’d be able to tear his mother to bits a moment if she wanted to.  While he was much taller than she was at his almost 8 feet, the ferret woman dwarfed his little healer of a mother.  There was nothing for the ferret mutant to be uncertain about.

She seemed well kept, for a mutant out and about.  Usually, when the children finished tracking their mother, she was with someone less...savory.  Everything about this woman’s bearing, the way she stood, the way she addressed them, had an entirely different flavor from anything he’d seen before.  She seemed a strange mix of affectation and genuine, as if she were trying to lie and having a hard time of it.  Sometimes her smile was artifical, closed mouthed with no teeth showing at all.  But then, the few times she’d smiled what was obviously her smile, the tips of her canines showed, and her eyes crinkled, and the feeling she gave off was more pleasant.   Her dress was also well kept, for a mutant.  The entire mutant population was used to patched and altered garments, except for the very few who happened to have very human frames and could fit into things as they came.  Eliza’s skirt had a mend in it, he could see, but she seemed to make a concerted effort in her dress to not be provocative, despite the fur covering her.   It reminded him of his mother when she was in the company of others besides her children.  “Always error on the side of modesty,” she would say.  Hence his sister being forced to wear a shirt, despite the fact she didn’t need it.

Either the woman had a unit she was with, in order to be so put together,or she was a woman of extraordinary emotional fortitude.   Either choice was impressive to the bear.

His eyes grew wide at Eliza’s story..  She was a good storyteller, she moved to match her words, giving the listener the pleasant visual of the story she was telling.  At the end, he laughed, a gruzzly snorffling sound, the reference to Aladdin not lost on him.  

He was surprised his mother would encourage the woman in front of them to recount stories about her daughter, it wasn’t her style.  She usually encouraged a mutant to think fondly of their past life, but to move on, and telling stories about one’s children did not tend to leave one with the feeling of moving on.  While having no children of his own to draw experience from, he remembered all too well what happened to his family when his mother had lost one of her own children.  

Then remembered.  Tracking his mother, that is what they had been doing.  And when they found her it always meant the same thing.  “Mama,” he said quietly and politely, “the time.”

 

* * *

 

All four of them burst out laughing, Eliza’s flare of the dramatic an easy match for Phoenix or Aries!  Disney movies were a favorite of theirs when they were young, they were gentle enough that Phoenix had let the children watch them, and they were non-human enough that they did not give her nightmares the way so many novels did.

Medusa’s upper body shook as she laughed, a hissy sound, much like Ernie on Sesame Street, her siblings used to tease. Her chained belt shook slightly, tinkling gently.

Aries snorted his own chortle, a thing that sounded something in between a huff and a snore.

Phoenix drew her lips in and trying to squelch her laugh.  It must be the mother in her, but a child brandishing a knife, even if it was for fun, was a dangerous thing, she knew.  But then, in retrospect, how many very dangerous things had she endured in raising her own children?  More than most people would probably want to admit.  But she’d never had a knife pointed in her direction.  “That,” she said, getting a hold of herself, is quite a story.”

“Mama,” said Arcos gently, but loud enough for everyone to hear.  “The time.”

She sighed, and looked at Eliza.  “The children say they are tracking me, but what they are really doing is fetching me and telling me it past my curfew.”  She looked behind her lovingly at her brood.  “Why don’t you go ahead, and I will help Eliza back to her manhole.”  She turned to the ferret.  “If you’re finished for the evening?”  Her voice changed, to one a bit less playful, “Especially if you won’t get another chance again any time soon,” she echoed Eliza’s previous words.

 

* * *

 

Upon hearing the wonderful cacophony of laughter, all distinct enough that she could probably distinguish the owners should she hear them again, Eliza felt a wave of relief and pride rush through her. Eliza was not necessarily a wallflower, but it was always a nervous thing to show off her more exuberant side. There was always a danger in putting oneself out there but she loved the buzz she got from a warm reception. She allowed her arm to drop and laughed as she stepped down to rejoin the group. She was amused to see Phoenix regaining her composure enough to comment and nodded in agreement. "It was quite a scare, that thankfully ended without harm. But the playpen got a lot more use after that."

She looked to Acros at his interruption and then to Phoenix to meet the woman's gaze for a moment before she turned to dismiss her children. Eliza was not happy to be reminded that the coming of the sun meant the end of her time on the surface. It was obviously a common pattern for all mutants... and their mothers. Her nose flared in agitation at the reminder that she had now to return to the lair, her burden both heavier and lighter than when she had left it. She took a deep breath and let it go in a huff of resignation.

"Whether I’m done or not, there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice in the matter." She lifted her head to address the children, making sure to give a smile and look each of them in the eye. "It was very nice to meet you all." She tried to infuse warmth into her smile but already she could feel the lighter mood slipping through her fingers. Rather than perpetuate any awkwardness the ferret turned down the path. Her walk was slow and measured, drinking in the sights and smells of the small oasis of green life before returning to the concrete jungle. She stopped to wait at the edge of the park for the healer to join her.

She heard the smaller woman approach and started talking once Eliza judged that the Phoenix was in earshot, but chose not to look at her. “Your children are very unique. I’m glad I got to meet them.” She gazed upwards, and was sad that she couldn’t see the stars, but could tell that the black was turning blue, indicating that dawn was not too far behind. “Thankyou. Thank you for everything.”

She finally turned to look at the healer. She’d know the woman for a few scant hours but felt her life changed for it. The emotions of the night threatened to assault her all at once but she held them at bay. There was business to attend to. “I know this may be asking a lot but…” She shuffled her feet nervously. “I need to know for sure. If I am… if there’s going to be a child. Well, it changes a lot of things for me.” She caught the woman’s gaze pleadingly. “I don’t know how to go about this, not as I am. Can you please help me?”

 

* * *

 

Phoenix was surprised by Eliza’s quick decline in mood, she hadn’t expected her question to have this kind of reaction.  She’d asked it in a rebellious tone, but not everyone was as rebellious as she was.   

She noted how polite Eliza was when saying goodbye, she looked each of the kids in the eye and nodded as each of them nodded in return.  “Good bye,” they said in unison, as if they’d been practicing it.  She watched Eliza for a moment as the ferret woman walked down the path away from her.

“Alright?” Arcos asked, his voice so low it sounded like it was coming from her own torso.

Phoenix shook her head, “I don’t know yet,” she said, not knowing if Eliza could hear their conversation or not.  She wasn’t worried if she could or not, actually, as privacy was non-existent her world, and the world of everyone else she knew.  You knew what someone was thinking about you if they said it out loud, and often times when they didn’t. It was an issue that would have to become an non-issue if Eliza was going to be part of any kind of group, Phoenix thought.  She smiled at her son, and reached up and patted his cheek.  “Off with you,” she said lovingly, and then walked to catch up with Eliza  as her brood retreated into the darkness of the trees.

The ferret woman wasn’t walking very fast, her gait was slower than Phoenix’s had been when they were coming.  Dragging feet, she thought, and felt her heart go out to the woman.  She took Eliza’s compliment to her children in stride, replying with only a smile, even if she couldn’t see it.  “Thank you for everything,” the ferret said, and Phoenix wasn’t sure if she was addressing her or not.

“I know this may be asking a lot but…” Eliza shuffled her feet nervously. That was the first time that anyone had said that to her, in...how many years?  Almost 20?  Asking a lot?  Oh, the poor thing!  She had no idea what she was in for.  Phoenix wanted to wrap her up and take her home, or shake her and download everything into her head that she would need to know for this life.  She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be made for it.   

_Were you?_ her voice asked herself in the back of her head.

She didn’t know the answer to that.  She hadn’t considered it before.

“I need to know for sure. If I am… if there’s going to be a child. Well, it changes a lot of things for me.” Eliza caught the Phoenix’s gaze pleadingly. “I don’t know how to go about this, not as I am. Can you please help me?”

Phoenix’s heart pulled so strongly that tears came to her eyes.  “Of course I can help you,” she said, before she knew the words were coming out.  How in the blue blazes was she going to help this woman?  She didn’t even know how to identify is she was pregnant or not!  All she knew about pregnancies were her two own, both of which happened more than two decades ago!    She knew almost nothing about her living situation, only that it was in the sewer with a host that didn’t want her coming to the surface.  She didn’t know about her diet, about her mixture of ferret and human, about her emotional make up....she’d known her for a few hours, and now she was being asked to help with something she wasn’t entirely sure she could help with.

“Of course I can help you,” she said again.  She reached out and took Eliza’s hand, it was soft and fuzzy.  It would have been easy to stroke it with her thumbs just to feel the silkiness of the fur.  By their conversations, Phoenix had surmised that Eliza must be in her very late twenties to late thirties.  She wasn’t as young as her own at almost two decades, that was obvious by her interactions with them.  But she wasn’t yet middle aged.  At 48 years, Phoenix was firmly entrenched in that bracket.

“I will tell you what,” she said, taking a great leap for a mutant, whether this newly mutated woman knew it or not.  “I live in the Haunted Warehouse District, you can find it on any tourist map of New York City.   Come by and see me.  You can come during the day, there is never anyone there.”  She blushed, and looked up at the bluing sky.  “That’s not entirely true,” she confessed, “we tend to get human visitors around Halloween, but the rest of the year it is empty.”  She smiled, please let it be reassuring, she thought.  Don’t let this woman see how much apprehension she had about giving out this information.  “When you’re there,  you will find a wall of ivy.  My warehouse is the one on the left of it.”

She hadn’t realized how possessive she was of her place of residence until she’d said those words, for the first time ever in the twenty years, she was telling someone where she lived.  She knew that mutants were secretive about their living spaces, they needed to be.  You never knew who was your friend and who wasn’t.  But she thought she was above that.  She thought, she didn’t want people to know where she lived because she didn’t want them coming to her all hours of the day and night for medical help.  But with saying it, with giving out directions out loud, she realized that it was a much deeper thing that simply that.

She was scared of someone other than a Grey Cat of knowing where she was.

“You can bring your host,” she said, patting Eliza’s hand in her own before dropping it.  “I may have already met him.  I know a lot of mutants in the city.”

Eliza’s bitter reply from earlier sounded in her head, _“...there doesn’t seem to be much choice in the matter.”_

To Phoenix, choice was of the utmost importance.  It was what gave someone control over their lives, something that they could hang on to.  There were things that were not choices that could be made, not any longer, but there were still things that could be.  

_There is always a choice_ , said the unbidden thought to her comfortingly.

“You know, there is always a choice in every matter, right?”  She knew it sounded silly, so far from where Eliza had stated it, but perhaps she could relay some of the comfort that the unbidden thought gave her to ferret woman.

 

* * *

 

The fear that had been slowly crushing her, the bleakness of facing the unknown possibilities alone, was lifted with Phoenix's consent of assistance. She hated to be a burden on others but Eliza knew that there were times when you had to humble yourself and reach out. Some things were too important to let one's pride stand in the way. It was a lesson she was forcibly learning as of late, this just being the latest occurrence. Still, she couldn't help but feel another piece of her identity being stripped away. She used to be the one that others relied on, the one that people came to for help. Now she couldn't even figure out if she'd gotten herself knocked up without assistance.

The ferret-woman noticed the glassiness in the healer's eyes and was touched by the show of emotion. "Of course I can help you." she confirmed as she took Eliza's hand and the transformed woman had to fight back tears of own at the gesture. The only one who touched her with such tenderness was Gwyn. Her daughter was very tactical, sometimes overly so, but it was the only contact Eliza readily welcomed now. With the boys she had created an envelope of appropriate distance. Though she may on occasion offer comfort to Donnie, but he remained very clinical whenever he needed to impose upon her for samples to advance his research. Raphael and Leonardo had no problem respecting the distance she silently requested. Mikey's exuberance was something to be endured but even he had learned to leave her in peace, for the most part. Splinter was mostly reserved but had a habit of small touches that were not touches. His hand may hover near her shoulder in an approximation of comfort but he never actually pushed through the barriers she erected. Something that Eliza was thankful for and disappointed in.

She focused her attention as Phoenix invited her to her home and gave her directions. She played the key elements over a few times in her head to commit them to memory. Haunted Warehouse, wall of ivory, on the left. She nodded to indicated she had it though she would have preferred an actual numbered address. She sincerely hoped that she would find it ok. The thought of be out and about during the day was both tempting and terrifying.

Phoenix dropped her hand after patting it kindly and Eliza bemoaned the loss of contact, drawling the limb back to herself to wrap around her torso, as if she could retain the lingering warmth by bringing it close to her body. She listened politely to the invitation to bring Splinter along, knowing she would never extend it. The last thing she wanted was to involve anyone at the lair until she had proof, and even then depending on the results. She had so little privacy now and she wouldn't air her dirty laundry without cause.

“You know, there is always a choice in every matter, right?” Eliza looked into Phoenix's eyes at the comment and saw the comfort and acceptance that she was offering. It was too much and she had to look away. She felt trapped by circumstances beyond her control only to have them compounded by actions she should have. As if she could see them with her natural eyes, the paths of her life unfolded and she could see every divergent point where she could have made another choice. Become a new version of herself. Some choices she was proud of and some ashamed. On occasions the decisions of others came crashing into her and all she could do was compensate to the best of her ability to make it back to the person she wanted to be. Now the map of her life was full of drop offs and she didn't know if she would be able to build the bridges back to the person she was meant to have been.

Eliza swallowed roughly and addressed the healer though she couldn't look her in the eye. "Agency does not excuse us from consequences." She turned and started to move in the direction she remembered the manhole being in. After a few moments of walking together in silence she found her tongue again."I will come as soon as I can. But it may be some time before I can get away again." She glanced to the side to find Phoenix looking at the road ahead. "But I think I may be able to make it before the end of next week. I really do appreciate this." She worried her mind for anything else, finding the prospect of parting ways suddenly awkward. She scratched behind her left ear, unsure whether she should voice her next thought but at a loss for anything else.

"Do I owe you anything, for the head treatment, or is there something I can bring with me when I come?" Eliza smiled shyly, feeling young and foolish. "Gwyn can still go to the atm for me. She kinda gets a kick out of it. I can cover the expenses of any... um... supplies you need... to help me with my... ahh... condition." 


	11. Chapter 11

Phoenix almost fell over at Eliza's words, there was so much wrong with the entire little paragraph!

"Gwyn can still go to the atm for me…" The ATM? This woman still had a bank account? With money in it? And she took money out of it? And she sent her daughter to the Automatic Teller Machine to get money and buy things?! What things? What kind of things would one buy…?

"I can cover the expenses of any...supplies…" Supplies? What supplies was Eliza thinking she had? Or that they would need? If she was pregnant, they would need a pair of scissors, rags, hot water, and string. Maybe a garbage bag to put it all in when they were done. If she wasn't pregnant, then she most likely needed some sort of vitamin or mineral added to her diet, and some sneakiness into the sunshine. Supplies?

Phoenix had the sinking feeling that Eliza had no idea what any of this entailed. What anything of being a mutant entailed. She was in denial, in a full scale denial, that this was something of a nightmare that she would wake up from, and find to have been nothing more than in her head. Eliza wasn't seeing what she needed to see wasn't knowing what she needed to know.

Her host, on the other hand, had to know. He did not want her to come to the surface. Eliza had once again intimated that she was going to be in 'trouble' for tonight's excursion, she would have to get away to come and see Phoenix again. Which meant her host would be keeping an eye on her. He knew what life was like for a mutant, why wasn't Eliza cottoning on?

It shocked Phoenix more than she'd been in a long while. Maybe not being helped was better than someone helping,if this is what helping did, if it allowed the patient to live in a fantasy land.

_Well, you're helping her, aren't you?_ she asked herself.

_Oh hush,_ she told the back of her mind. _It isn't the same thing._

_Isn't it?_

She had a sudden misgiving of having told Eliza where she lived, but shook it away. Maybe it would do her good to see how other people lived, for her to see what her position was. She had a steady stream of guests in the early spring and fall with the Grey Cats, and he annual colds making their rounds. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to having visitors. It would be good for her to see something else.

"You don't owe me anything," Phoenix got out, she hoped with a kind smile, but she heard the stuttering of shock in her own voice and knew she had taken too long to answer. "I am in want of nothing," she gave her normal refrain. "I have everything I need. And as to your condition," she waved her hand vaguely, "we don't know what it is yet. The only thing I would say with any kind of certainty is that you probably have anemia. You need to increase your iron intake until your hair stops falling out. That is the usual culprit of hair falling out when there aren't parasites involved." She chuckled good naturedly, "and parasites are pretty obvious."

* * *

The seconds ticked by and still Phoenix did nothing more than stare at her like she had two heads. Eliza felt like crawling in hole and never emerging again as the nervous cold shivers of embarrassment traversed her frame. Conveniently they reached the opening of the alley and slinking away became a viable option. Just as Eliza was seriously contemplating an escape the healer formulated a halted response to the ferret's offer. Though it only lasted an instant Eliza got the distinct impression that something she had said offended the small woman and for the first time her smile seemed forced. Phoenix quickly dismissed the need for any compensation, monetary or material, and though Eliza was willing to take the claim at face value, she was well acquainted with the words. They were phrases she had used often in her past.

It was typical amongst those that were givers and caretakers, they would never ask for anything, despite what their actual needs may be. If she was ever to feel a sense of balance with this woman, to escape the indebtedness that would crush her own self, she would have to do it carefully and without permission. While Eliza never expected anything for the service she rendered and was able to accept it in kind, a longstanding one-way pattern of it was simply not acceptable. Already she felt the weight of it living in the lair. The ferret-woman lingered under a sense of emotional servitude to Splinter for taking her and Gwyn in, it kept her tongue civil and her opinions caged. The occasional pizza night, cleaning or trinket couldn't compensate for the long hours Donnie spent in the lab or the bruises the boys came home with after a canister hunt. She was drowning in dependence but too scared for Gwyn and herself, the dangers of this world so far outside her ability realm, that she couldn't bring herself to make a change.

Pulling herself from her own ruminations she focused on what Phoenix was saying. Her point about anemia was a good one though Eliza would have never thought to link it in with hair loss. She shuttered in disdain at the thought of parasites, she was as meticulous as she could be when it came to grooming but found it counterproductive if she overdid it. The thought of acquiring fleas or some other pest was repugnant to her.

"Iron huh? Well that seems simple enough." She smiled, enjoying Phoenix's brief laugh. "If nothing else, I'll appreciate not having to clean up after my own fur. It was getting ridiculous!" They had drifted into the alley and were close to the manhole now. She stepped past it to retrieve the lid, unable to lift it cleanly she slide/dragged it so that it was close enough to the hole so that she could reach it easily once she was underground. The ferret stood again and dusted her hands off on her rounded hips.

She looked at the Phoenix, really looked at her, and was struck by the amount of command and compassion that resided in the small frame. This time she smiled with real warmth and gratitude, not bothering to school her features. "I really want to say thank you again. This is not how I imagined the night going. But I'm grateful that it did and I wish it didn't have to end so soon. I'm looking forward to coming to see you, maybe next time with a few less bumps and bruises though." She rubbed the back of her head and laughed weakly at her own clumsiness. A moment of silence fell and she could feel her resistance to entering the sewers growing even as the sky continued to lighten.

She sighed knowing it was impossible to postpone any longer. "See you later then." she paused before she had barely begun to turn her body to leave. The parting seemed too empty for all that had occurred. Eliza smiled softly and spoke quietly. "It may be a bit late to ask, considering how I was clinging on you earlier, but do you mind if I give you a hug goodbye?"

* * *

Phoenix could feel the pull of the dawning day as Eliza hesitated going into the sewers. The ferret's movements were elongated, as if taking more time to do them, the sun would not come up as quickly. The healer smiled as Eliza professed her pleasure in the night, and her desire for another like it. Though separations like this were not uncommon to Phoenix, especially lately with the slew of new mutants that she was meeting, it was the first time that such a parting happened when the mutant had somewhere specific to go. So many were just roaming the streets, alone and afraid, that those who did have a place to go were often eager to go back there, to their little cocoons of safety. Yet, this ferret woman seemed the opposite. With the sun coming up, turning their world back to the humans who slept in the dark of the night, Phoenix felt Eliza's pull on her, a emotional clingliness that was almost physical, as if she was trying to will the healer to come down to the sewer with her, or to have the healer drag her back to her own Haunted Warehouse.

"Do you mind if I give you a hug goodbye?" she asked. The question surprised the Phoenix. The shock at the previous mention of money, and the unease at the pull of an ending connection faded away with the simple request. She could not remember the last time someone had ever asked her that question. Never in this life she lived, it was in her past one that it was asked last.

A compassion melted through her, covering her shoulders like a cape, and closing her throat in sympathy. Tears came to her eyes again, and her smile was no longer forced, but the genuine nurturing one that such a feeling induced. "Of course you can!" she breathed, and without waiting for Eliza to move, she opened her arms and wrapped them around the ferret.

Eliza wrapped her own arms about the human, and Phoenix was surprised at the strength behind the hold, no so much the ability of the arms to be strong, but the enacting of that strength in the hug. It was not an obligatory embrace, but an honest and beseeching one, tight, as if the ferret woman was making sure she was a real being and not a dream that had happened from her bumped head. Phoenix squeezed back, a firm and tight hug, like she would one of her children or one of the Grey Cats that she was close to. She nuzzled her head into Eliza's collarbone, her forehead brushing against her soft fur, and a selfish part of her enjoying the feel of it for feelings sake. Her fur was silky and fluffy, and she could feel it lifting into the air around her as she disturbed it below the ferret woman's neck. She did not get to indulge in the sensation of such hair often, of her own brood, Ailurosa was the only one who had such fur. She felt Eliza lower her shoulders, as if trying to get closer to the smaller person that she held, and heard the ferret sniff.

Again, she wondered what situation the mutant was going home to, that parting with a stranger would cause such a strong reaction. She tightened her squeeze, to indicate the end of it, and then released the mutant. Eliza held on for a few moments longer, before letting Phoenix go.

The look on Eliza's face almost tore Phoenix in two. She looked so sad, and confused, and grateful all at the same time. "Thank you, again," she said.

Phoenix smiled consolingly. "You are welcome," she replied. "And you are welcome to come to visit whenever you want, and bring whomever you like," she said again, despite her reservations about doing so. It was as if the pull that Eliza had on her brought the invitation forth, but her natural reservation, her reservation of living in a mutant's world, tried to push it back in.

Eliza nodded, and turned to go into the manhole. The ferret turned, looking at Phoenix one last time. "Goodbye, then," she said.

"Goodbye," Phoenix took a step back, in an emotional indication for Eliza to disappear. The ferret mutant did so, dragging the manhole cover behind her to close the hole. Phoenix turned, climbed up the fire escape of the nearest building, and began her leaping home as the sky became bluer and bluer in the morning.


	12. Chapter 12

"She seemed nice," said Medusa, as she and her two brothers took to the rooftops once again racing for home. Unlike their mother, who could take all the time she wished getting from place to place as the sky began to lighten, they were well aware of the fact that their time in the world of sleeping humans was almost over. They had no place in the world of humans when they were awake.

"She did," Arcos agreed, jumping onto the next roof and stopping for a moment. "She was different."

"She was hot," Aries said, not stopping at the end of his jump. He kept on running and then jumped to the next roof.

Medusa hissed slightly, and rolled her eyes. She also passed Arcos, leaping behind Aries.

Arcos smiled, and followed his sister, taking up the rear. "Yeah, she was," he agreed. "But that isn't what I meant."

"She was nice and she was hot, what else does there need to be?" Aries asked playfully.

"You troglodyte," Medusa threw at him, passing him to become the one in the lead.

"Hey," Aries called to her, "I'm just sayin' it like it is."

"There was something different about her," Arcos said again, "but I can't put my finger on what it was."

"Hmmm," Aries raised an eyebrow. "She was sassy."

"You are a troglodyte," Arcos said.

"Just callin' like it is, man," he said again, "just callin' it like it is."

"She was polite!" Medusa stopped on the rooftop just before their own, and turned to her brothers. "That's what it was!"

Aries didn't stop, he leapt passed her and swung down into the garden window. "She was sassy," he said again, tasting the word like it was candy.

"She was polite," Arcos agreed, jumping into the warehouse. "But there was more than that. It was…" he shook his head. "The way she held herself. It was different."

"You're different," Aries told him.

"You're not different," Medusa said. "That's your problem."

He stuck his tongue out at her.

"I know what you mean, Arcos," Medusa ignored her other brother. "There was something different about her."

"I don't get what was so bad about her," Aries said. "I liked her."

"Not bad," Arcos said. "Not bad at all. Just different."

"You have to be more specific than that, bro."

Arcos shook his head, and sat down at the kitchen table, waiting for his mother to come home, wracking his brain to come up with a reason why Eliza VonHertz would strike him so. She was...he wasn't sure what she was. She had been frightened but no more frightened than any other mutant who was meeting them for the first time was. He knew that his mother had given Eliza no warning as to her brood's size, she never did, and Eliza's comment at meeting them proved it. She handled herself beautifully in that respect. She was desirable, she had a pretty coat, she had a body that gave a man something to hang onto, she was sassy, or at least had the potential to be. But that wasn't what was striking him. He'd been struck by desirability plenty of times, it wasn't as if he didn't have a pick of mutants who could hold any and all of those criteria. She was obviously not a dumbbell, her vocabulary and story telling ability alone shown that. She was polite, a kind of polite that was rare in his world, a kind of polite that he saw in himself and his family, when they were trying to be so. She seemed at ease, but then at the same time not at ease. Only, the not-at-ease-ness wasn't a type of lie, it wasn't a power play, like what one of the lower ranking Grey Cats would do. It didn't feel like it to him, anyway. It was, it was the same kind of thing as her vivid storytelling, and then the huff when she turned to leave them. It was as if two things were taking up the same place at the same time.

"She was scared of Medusa," Aries suggested when Arcos didn't answer him.

"Everyone is scared of Medusa," Arcos replied, "that's not it."

"She's a ferret, ferrets hunt snakes," Medusa said.

"Not snakes that can swallow them whole," Aries said chuckling.

"It doesn't matter," Medusa said, slithering toward her bedroom. "I'm going to bed. Tell Mama goodnight."

Aries clapped Arcos on his shoulder. "Me too, man. Let me know when you figure out that she was just hot."

Arcos shrugged his brother's hand off of his shoulder. "Go to bed, wool-for-brains."

Aries laughed, and thunked Arcos on the head. "Don't stay up too late. The sun'll be up soon, and turn into stone."

Not very long after his siblings had retired, he smelled his mother on the wind, her unique combination of soap, herbs, and her now an easy scent for him to pick up. Shortly thereafter he was able to hear her. She she emerged from the window, he chuckled to himself. If he had not been able to smell her, or hear her, he would have been able to feel his mother coming home. Despite her little body, she seemed to take up a great deal of room around her. Stage presence, she had described it to him when they were younger. But her feeling of largesse did not dim when she was not playing actress. He knew the feeling was not charisma, Chategris of the Grey Cats had plenty of that, and he did not give off the same sort of feeling that The Phoenix did. "It is because you love your mother so much," he remembered her telling him once, "that your love plays tricks on you." However, he doubted that was true, and the doubted that his mother believed it either.

She dumped her bags on the table, and smiled at him lovingingly. "Your brother and sister gone to bed?" She rolled her shoulders and plopped herself down in a chair across from him.

He nodded, his jowls and ears jiggling slightly as he did so.

"Why didn't you?" she asked, leaning back.

"I wasn't done thinking yet," he told her.

She let out a long breath as she smiled at him fondly, and cocked her head to the side. Of all of her children, Arcos was the one who did the most thinking. If he wasn't careful, the thinking would turn into brooding. If the brooding continued, it turned into a downright bad mood. And unlike his brother, Aries, it was not so easy to coax him out of it once he was in it. His serious nature made him a slow mover emotionally, once his mind had been made, making it move in another direction was nigh impossible. "What about?"

"Eliza VonHertz," he answered honestly.

She raised her eyebrows, her own thoughts not far from that subject. Her race with the sunrise home still gave her mind plenty of time to ruminate on the unique meeting she'd had with the ferret mutant that evening. Phoenix could not get over the feeling of the strange mix of perceptions she received from her. She was at the same time put together, and falling apart. At the same time she gave Phoenix the indication that she was an able bodied person, who would survive the psychological rigors of the mutation process with flying colors, and then in complete denial that the mutation had even happened. She indicated that she had a type of support system in place, whether it was brought to her by luck or not, but then acted as if the support was more of a hinderance than anything else. It seemed she was telling a series of falsehoods, but they did not have the feeling of lies. Rather, it was if they were all true, despite the immediate contradictions that Phoenix was presented with.

What she felt the most, when analyzing the ferret mutant, was that she displayed many traits that pointed straight to a psychological strength rare in people in general, but then would say something like, "Agency does not excuse us from consequences." While Phoenix did not have clear idea of what the phrase meant, it was obviously a cautionary statement, the kind given to naughty children who must now lie in the bed they have made. She could tell from the way Eliza said it, and under the context it was used, that it was a statement of giving up, a statement of choice having no power in the situation.

Despite the fact that she seemed a wave in how she presented herself, Phoenix liked Eliza. She was pleasing to be around, she seemed sensible. She was a fellow woman, a mother, Phoenix had not felt the kind of connection she felt with Eliza in a long time. It was not the connection of friendship, per se, but a connection of having met someone with enough in her past, in her life, like herself, that she could make a connection. She was a woman, she was caring for her child, and perhaps growing a new one in her womb.

_Perhaps. And perhaps not. You have to remember the perhaps not,_ she told herself.

"What about Eliza VonHertz?" his mother canted forward, and leaned on her forearms.

Arcos shook his head in the same way he did with his siblings. "Just that she was different."

Phoenix raised her eyebrows in a question. The movement slightly irked Arcos, it was pretentious, and he had waited up for his mother, not to be met with pretentiousness, but to speak with her. It must have shown on his face, because his mother pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?" she asked.

He took a deep breath, his annoyance not fading. "I am surprised you encouraged her to talk about her daughter," he said, more in retaliation for his perceived slight than anything else. "You usually don't encourage people to remember their lives as humans."

Phoenix raised her eyebrows again, "Her daughter is still with her," she said. "Eliza is a widow. I think she said her husband died two years ago."

This information knocked the annoyance out of Arcos, "She has a daughter with her? Where was she?"

Phoenix leaned back again in her seat, and brought her foot up to her knee, and began to massage her calf. "I don't know. With her host, I guess."

"Who is her host?" he said the word 'host' with snidely.

"She didn't say," Phoenix told him. She kept her observation that Eliza seemed to be slightly frightened of her host to herself. "Only that he was in the sewer, and thought it was dangerous for her to go out and about above ground."

"It is dangerous," Arcos agreed.

"That is what I told her," his mother said. She slipped off her sneaker, and began to rotate her ankle.

Arcos gasped gently and smiled. It hit him what was different about Eliza.

His mother turned to him, "What is it Teddy Bear?"

Arcos shook his head, "Nothing," he said. "I just thought of something."

"Something funny?" she asked him, pulling off her other sneaker.

"No," he said. "Just something."

She gave him a sidelong look, and smiled back at him. "Alright," she said. She passed him, and kissed his head as she did so. "Good night, Arcos."

"Good night, Mama," he replied, getting up and going to his own room.

Eliza VonHertz had a presence to her that was larger than herself, when she was telling her story. But unlike his mother, whose presence was an everpresent push, Eliza's had grown during her performance, and then diminished again when she turned to leave. Besides his mother, he'd never experienced that in another person before.

* * *

She was filled and hollow as her foot stepped off the bottom rung of the ladder onto the dirty floor. The scent of herbs that clung to Phoenix still filled her nostrils and she committed it to memory. Wrapping the entire night around the hints of sage, grease, honey, mint and a mirad of other dried plants. The fear, comfort, joy, sadness and excitement, all became inseparable from the fragrant essence of the healer.

The implications of tonight's meeting was not lost on her. She had meet someone who was well acquainted with mutants, for many years and apparently in numbers that Eliza was unaware even existed. In her time with the Hamatos they had always made it seem that the presence of other mutants was a rarity that had only recently changed. She was unsure how she felt about her newly acquired knowledge and their lack of it.

These thoughts drifted around her head but made no movement towards a firm conclusion. Unfortunately as her thoughts drifted so did her attention. After an unknown number of wrong turns she came back to herself and realized that she was utterly lost. It took a solid hour of backtracking before she was able to re-orientate herself and then continue her journey back to the lair.

She heard the raised voices while still on the platform outside the turnstiles.

"… check the south tunnels. Raph and I will head north." It was easy to recognize Leonardo and the tone he affected when giving his brothers orders.

"I'm coming too!" Eliza smiled at the defiant and determined ring to her daughter's voice.

"No. You will stay here with April." The mother in her bristled at the harsh clipped tone Splinter used to address Gwynevere. "It will do us no good if we have to track you as well."

It was clear that the time for intervention was now. Without preamble she came around the corner, the clicks of the entryways mechanism silencing the room as everyone turned to look in her direction. "Who are we tracking now?" She smiled as she prepared for the whirlwind that was her daughter to descend upon her.

"Mom!" Eliza scooped the child up briefly in a tight embrace before setting her back down on her feet. "Where were you?!"

She nuzzled her daughter's face, exaggerating the movement of her whiskers to elicit an undignified giggle and caused her to try and worm away from the embrace while her ferret-mom held her close. "Guess I got lonely without you." She relaxed her grip and Gwyn danced away, only to return to her side almost immediately. "I couldn't sleep so decided to go for a stroll. Did you miss me?" She smiled softly at Gwyn though her voice was teasing. Eliza purposely ignored the rest of the group, and she felt them start to drift off after her explanation, there was no longer any crisis to address.

There was a cough at she turned her long neck to see Donatello waiting patiently, he had something in his hand. "I found your phone in the couch cushions when we were trying to call you this morning." He smiled, showing off his gap, as he offered it to her. "You know my offer still stands if you want a t-phone."

Eliza smiled her thanks even as she shook her head to decline the offer. She noted several missed calls and texts on the homescreen before passing the device to Gwyn. "Go put this on the charger for me." She shooed her daughter off before addressing the tall teen. "Thanks, but no need to go to the effort. I'd just end up giving it back pretty soon, anyway, once we're ready to leave." She felt bad instantly for the poorly chosen words.

Donnie's face fell and he muttered something non-committal underneath his breath. He slowly turned away to head in the direction of his lab. Halfway there his posture changed and he looked back at her, as if he had remembered something. "I had a few ideas I'd like to test and we found another canister last night." He swallowed and gave her a slightly guilty look but pressed onward. "I could use a sample or two to see if it I'm progressing in the right direction.

Eliza nodded, knowing what he was asking for but not particularly feeling up to a donation. Especially not after what Phoenix had told her about iron deficiency. "Maybe tomorrow? I'm not feeling up to it right now. Kay?" She smiled to lessen the blow of her refusal.

He frowned slightly before nodding and then continued to make his way back to the lab at a more normal pace. Donatello's departure left her alone in the main room, except for the undeniable presence of the Master of the house. Taking a deep breath and letting it out before facing the only other adult in the lair, though at the moment she was feeling very much like a child herself.

They just sized each other up for a moment. Nether willing to launch the opening volley. Splinter then began to worry his beard and look up towards the ceiling, a tactic she'd seen him use on his sons when about to catch them in a lie. Mentally she fumed at his silent condemnation, though she gave no outward indication of her inner indignation, her face and body language carefully schooled.

"Did I ever tell you of my family's garden back in Japan?" The ferret-woman recognized it as a rhetorical question and said nothing. "It had the most magnificent cherry tree right in it's center. It thrived in the sunshine and produced the most fragrant flowers. You could never grow one underground, such as we have in the dojo." He dropped his muzzle and looked down his impressive nose at her. "I imagine that it would just be coming into bloom around this time of year." He dropped his hand to tuck behind his back and bent slightly so that they were eye to eye. "I must say, Mrs. VonHertz, you smell as lovely as a cherry blossom this morning."

She smiled as large as she could, the display almost threatening, and squinted her eyes in feigned happiness to cover her actual reaction to his subtle accusation. She bet that he could still hear her pounding heart with his large ears. She would not rise to the bait. "Why thank you Splinter. What a nice compliment." Eliza gave him a tiny polite bow, little more than a dipping of her shoulders. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm suddenly feeling very peckish. I think I'll go find something to eat." She lifted her lip slightly to expose one fang even more before turning away and walking towards the kitchen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We would like to thank you for your support in reading this opening installment of our joint effort. If you have enjoyed this story look forward to the sequel "Who Deceives You" where the friendship between the Phoenix and Eliza grows as the two learn more about each other. Thanks for reading!!


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